


corrupt the sky

by Antartique



Series: corrupt the sky [1]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Adds characters to the list, Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Antagonist Tsuna, Episodics, Gen, Guess the important characters! The game, Immortal Skull, Like half of them are actually doing things, Mild Gore, Past Brainwashing, Tutor Daemon, is it mild i have no idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2018-04-02 10:28:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 152,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4056664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antartique/pseuds/Antartique
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Namimori. A weird place where things are weird, people are weirder, and everything is a complete and beautiful mess. It doesn't help that it is the home of the craziest God in the living universe, who is everywhere ruining everyone's lives, and the citizens feed the land with their tears and suffering. It isn't all that surprising that it is full of conspiracies and supernatural things and... Mafia?</p>
<p>In a world with only one possible and terrible outcome, the World's number one Hitman Reborn and the world's most bizarre spirit Daemon Spade compete against time, the town and each other to raise the most powerful mafia boss in history from a pair of strangely similar yet radically different brothers. Meanwhile, two fated opposites grow up together in an extremely messed up city that teaches them to not trust anyone and be ready to fight at all times, while both of them struggle to keep the other unaware of the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. sky prologue(s)

**Author's Note:**

> Or: the one where Daemon Spade is not AS crazy and plans lots of cool things (at this point he is probably the most stable of them all), Tsunayoshi is the next Sky Arcobaleno in line (and he really can't deal with all this shit), Reborn has no idea what to do with all this what-is-going-on and no one knows why the DC hasn't kicked Hidetada out yet.
> 
> Featuring also: Shouichi and Haru as badass babysitters, Byakuran and Enma as Tsuna's accomplices in life and an Actual Sawada Grandfather. And ghosts, because why not (they are canon so). Also, Kawahira is everywhere because he is Terrible.

**000.1**

**Sawada Hidetada**

Sawada Hidetada, heir to the ancient house of Sawada (a title that meant nothing at all, in practice; _it is only so we can keep track_ ), was four when his baby brother was born. Four years old when he, in all his curiousness, looked at the bundle of clothes and hair like it was an intruder fallen from the sky, poking it insistently much to his mother's amusement.

_"This is Tsunayoshi,"_ she had said, uncovering the baby's head. She had held Hide's hand in hers when he reached to caress his new brother. _"He is your little brother. Isn't he cute?"_

He _was_ cute, Hide thought. He thought so for years (still thinks so), even when the little menace opened his eyes (round, amber, glowing; so unlike Hide's own slanted blue ones) and started crawling. Even when the mini-spawn from hell began standing on his tiny little feet and breaking things. He was terrifyingly cute.

Hide loved him.

_"The both of you will destroy this house, I tell you,"_ their grandfather had scolded, reaching to pick up a vase Tsuna had dropped. Hide had laughed, holding on to his brother's giggling form as he kicked the _shōgi_ board. _"It survived many generations, but you will end up destroying it. Worse than Iemitsu, you two are."_

Then his brother grew up and got a pacifier… like, thing. He started talking to ghosts, being bipolar and burning things (he said that they spontaneously combust. He never believed a word Tsuna said). Not that Hide didn't have his own problems, what with the constant teasing the whole _ancient house heir_ brings along, since for some reason his classmates were convinced he was a stuck-up good for nothing _freak_ , and then being reluctantly dragged into Hibari- _sempai'_ s Disciplinary Committee.

Not his fault, never his fault.

He used to care about that. Now, he laughs. So what if he plays _shōgi_ better than he plays video games, what if he does _old fashioned_ martial arts (Aikido is great, and definitely not old fashioned); what if he shakes hands instead of bowing, what if he speaks Italian better than their mandatory second language (English)? Really, his family is partly foreign, so what.

It doesn't mean anything. Bad or good. It is just ancestry. Just family.

He loves his family, really. From his grandfather, with his many long-served rants on family history and the _beautiful tale of Namimori_ ; to his grandfather's sister with her scoldings and bitter tea (and her family, by association); to his mother with her late-night sessions of mystery novel reading and her constant scrutiny of everything; to his maternal grandparents who mail books disguised as letters every few months. Even his brother, with his _terrible_ habit of setting things to fire and _laughing_ (he stopped doing it a few years ago. Hide still doesn't know), and his pacifier-like charm and his _ghosts_ and _spirits_ and _vanishing_ _stores_.

He doesn't like his father much, but that's okay. The man never shows up and their grandfather has been a good enough paternal figure for the past fourteen years. And Mamma had done a really good job managing the house on her own, thank you.

He likes the peace and quiet that is Namimori, from old town to the modern buildings in 3rd Street. He likes the dark and muddy old house of his grandfather's, and he also likes the house his father and mother bought for themselves. He likes the quiet of the shrine and the loud casualness of school. He likes the people. He likes the _normal_.

Namimori is peaceful and quiet and normal. His life is fine.

And he will do whatever it takes for it to continue being _fine_.

 

* * *

 

 

**000.2**

**Sawada Ietsuna**

Ietsuna was never stupid. He still isn't, but he doesn't understand how his own son managed to be such a failure of a father. Not that his _own_ father was all that great: Sawada Yoshinobu was known for his constant status of _not being in the city_ , but the man tried harder than Iemitsu apparently ever did.

He wants to believe he was a good father to Iemitsu, but one can only be so good when raising a child alone. His wife had given in to her illness soon after their child was born, and Ietsuna's darling sister had her own family. So maybe, he had messed up. Been too clingy to his son, been too rooted to his family house that he was unwilling to move, even if for just a few days.

Chiyo always did say he was obsessive. _Obsessive, with a melancholy issue!_ But she had been good to him, keeping him alive long enough for him to have a family and make it to old age (it is 2009. How did he make it to the new millennium?).

Maybe, if Iemitsu had had a sibling, he wouldn't be as he is. Maybe he wouldn't have ran away as soon as he turned fifteen and Ietsuna was family-bound to sit him down and tell him _'Iemitsu, you know that story about Ieyasu-sama coming from Italy where he founded a Mafia family? Well, it is true, and the Famiglia is still around'_. Maybe it would have been different.

He always wanted a sibling, himself. A blood-sibling, who he could share 'how many things can magically combust around us' tales and have slow motion fights in the attic while their mother yelled at them to _not break anything and specially not the mirror!_ Chiyo was _great_ , a great sister and companion, but she didn't see the world the same as he did. And his father was never around for him to ask. Nor were there any other living family relative from that side of the family.

Grandfather Yoshimune had joked around that they were cursed. Cursed to have a _single, male_ child in every generation to carry on the family line ( _his_ sister had died at childbirth. The baby didn't make it). He knew that his father, Yoshinobu, had gone through Ieyasu- _sama_ 's journals looking for a reason for all these miscarriages and deaths (it had to be a curse, right? Some demon, some spirit that _could_ be exorcised). He remembers hearing of a scratched-out page with a spade symbol drawn in a corner, but that burnt soon after his beloved father died of, well, a _mysterious fire_ that lit up the shed.

He _also_ remembers very well the day when Iemitsu came back to Namimori, a beautiful and young girl at his side and a one-year-old in her arms. ' _My wife, Nana,_ ' he had said, ' _and this is Hidetada!_ ' And, then he had gone off to find a new, modern house for his family that didn't reek of ash, old traditions and forgotten families overseas, while he and Chiyo interrogated Nana about the (Christian) wedding, the child's birth and _what colour would look good for the celebration, because of course we must celebrate, Sawada style._

A couple years later he had worried so much when Nana had had complications at Tsuna's birth. A simple problem in these days was lethal back then, and, well, he didn’t want to lose more family. No more. ' _It is back,_ ' he had said, holding Iemitsu's shoulders. _'It is going to kill us all_.'

But it didn’t. Fortunately, it didn’t.

It has been ten years and Tsunayoshi is still alive, if a little on the small side. Hidetada is still alive, and energetic like Iemitsu was when he was his age. Iemitsu, Nana and Ietsuna are still alive, somehow. So is Timoteo, though his old friend is, well, _old_ and tired, and so are his sons; three blood sons and one adopted (and a stillborn girl he would have called Daniela).

He has heard no news from Italy in a while, but somehow, he feels like things will be okay. No news means good news, or so they say. And, while Iemitsu may not be the best father, he _is_ a family man and would tell him if anything happened, right?

...right?

 

* * *

 

 

**000.3**

**Sawada Tsunayoshi**

He was small when all this _supernatural_ stuff he is used to started happening around him. Really, really small. It was probably about the same time when Hide- _nii_ started training in the boring martial arts with Kusakabe- _sensei_ , but he doesn't remember those years very well, as he was a toddler still clinging to his mother’s skirt.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was three, maybe, when he found himself owner of a really particular stone. A magic stone, he would have said back then. A cursed stone, he says now, behind closed doors. And it really is cursed, as it is. So far he has felt it _suck_ at his energy and try to invade his mind. Stupid pacifier, he doesn't keep it too close to him because of that, but if he keeps it too far then he can't move. As in, he _really_ can’t move: he will feel sluggish and his vision will start going… somewhere, and then he will panic before everything starts shutting down.

The last time he had forgotten the pacifier was about three years ago, when he was in a hurry. A terrible hurry, since he had a meeting with Ghost- _san_ and ghosts are vengeful if you don’t keep up with your promises (he knows, the blonde man at Grandfather’s house _still_ won’t talk to him). He didn’t make it, in the end, because before he knew it he was waking up on his bed, Mamma tending to a _sudden spike in your fever, Tsu_ -kun, _why didn’t you tell me you are sick?_

He is pretty sure he hadn’t been sick that day (Hide- _nii_ complained about him hogging the attention, all while looking worriedly at the pacifier-like stone sitting on his desk).

Of course, the stone was the tip of the iceberg. Quite a big iceberg, too, if the mirror-that-was-definitely-a-portal-to-another-world in Grandfather’s attic and the pocket watches that kept moving around Namimori were anything to go by (there was a funny thing about the watches, too, since people _could_ see them but couldn’t approach them. It is there, but also not?). And those were just two of a hundred of mysteries he has found around Namimori in his quest for immortality and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Then there is the _spontaneous combustion_ thing that started a whole lot of years ago, starting from simple bits of paper and notebooks, a dried log in old town and maybe a couple of his vegetables. It isn’t that he wanted to burn them, no, they suddenly, randomly decided to burst into fire in his presence. It was rare, but it happened, and people were… odd, about it (it really wasn’t his fault).

Fortunately for Tsuna, he has Ghost-san. Well, apparently he has always had Ghosts, but then there is this _particular_ Ghost that is slightly different from the others. To start with, no matter who he was possessing (and he was _really, really_ picky about that; thank goodness Kyoko- _chan_ fit his expectations!), Tsuna would always be able to tell he was around. He could _sense_ him, like a little voice in his mind told him _hey, this is him, this is Ghost-_ san.

It was like a series of fun sub-quests that involved one unattainable golden watch (it had been by the other side of town, that day. Getting there was the hard part), one dig through piles and boxes of Ieyasu- _sama_ ’s ancient things looking for a mold-bitten deck of playing cards, Sasagawa Kyoko (her body, really) teaching him how to make lemonade and a pair of dragons made of _fire_ that refused to let go of a bouquet of flowers. Or was it the flowers before the lemonade? Nevermind that, it was a pair of _dragons_.

That had been the weirdest day of his life.

No, wait, the day following that one had been the weirdest. But, the other one was also high up there. Second place.

Somehow or another, he ended up having a _Ghost_ for a tutor (wasn’t there a manga about the same premise that is currently his life?) He is devious, he is scary, he teaches how to kill people and hide the bodies. He teaches world history like he was there (which, he probably was) and constantly does weird stuff like possess bodies and make _illusions_. He disappears at times, claiming he has _cleaning up_ to do and that he will be back soon.

So far, he hasn’t broken his promise. So far, he has shown him how to control his spontaneous combustion skills, how to deal with the more dangerous spirits without getting killed or eaten, how to manipulate his way around conversations he doesn’t want to have. So far, he has been more of a father than his own father ever was.

Well, the strict manners and etiquette lessons he could do without, but no one is perfect. Besides, they will maybe come useful someday in the future?

For now, he worries about his lessons, and how he doesn’t want to go to school, and how Namimori seems to be infested with all kinds of weird people, auras and spirits. He will worry about his tutor’s reasons later -oh, and the cursed stone, too.

Later, though. Right now, his life is pretty fun.

 


	2. starting line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which it is the first day of Reborn's stay at Namimori.  
> And it feels Eternal.  
> Featuring: OCs, family matters, Haru and the Sasagawas. Also a too long explanation on everything.

 

** 001 **

** The man from Italy **

 

Reborn, the number one hitman in Italy and the underworld in general, sat on a tree outside the Sawada household. Surely a _hitman_  watching over a house couldn't be any good for the inhabitants of said house, but well, he had an assignment. A really fun assignment, too, one that didn't involve too much bloodshed or too much screaming.

No, he had been sent him to _tutor_. Tutor the next Vongola boss, and just the thought of it made a shiver of anticipation run up his spine. Not so much about the Vongola part, or the boss part; also he was a little disappointed about the preliminary report of his _14-years-old_  vic- student.

He _likes_  teaching, thank you very much.

After arriving two days ago, he had dismissed the CEDEF look-out with a specific request of _not sending anyone else, alright?_ Sure, he knows there are probably some Vongola agents scattered around the town, but he can't do much about them. Still, the CEDEF had to go: if he is raising a _Mafia_ boss , he needs a little challenge against the kid. Having a constant security blanket spread over the house is not challenging, it is stupid and breeds spoiled brats.

He had already done his scouting around the neighbourhood. Really calm neighbourhood, nothing special around it. He had decided to keep watch over the family until it was time to meet them, as little was known about them; sure, there was that idiot's report, but Iemitsu hadn't met his family in years and Reborn wasn't taking any chances.

So, he watched.

It was early morning, about the time the two children of the house -one Sawada Hidetada, heir to Vongola, and one Sawada Tsunayoshi, to be _ left alone unless he wishes to be in the in_\- would leave for school. He had been watching since as early as 6 AM this Thursday, and so far seen a pair of siblings jog past the house, a quiet old man deliver a newspaper and a woman knock the window to speak with Sawada Nana (apparently, the neighbour Takeda Keiko would share the morning gossip at 7:15 everyday, without fault).

Now, at 7:23, a relatively tall boy in Namimori Middle's uniform ( _friend, Yamamoto Takeshi, 14; baseball ace, way below-average grades_ ) approached the gate, yelling up at the window Reborn recognized as Hidetada's. It took a minute and two seconds for the Vongola heir ( _Sawada Hidetada, 13; aikido 3-kyū, slightly-below average grades_)to appear by the door, a long, wrapped something held in one hand and a half eaten slice of bread in the other. The two boys greeted with a high five before running off in the direction of school. Disappointingly enough, Hidetada's only display of ever sensing Reborn's gaze on him was him adjusting his bag in discomfort, which… was really sad, really. Well, his Flames had been sealed in his childhood, which could explain the lack of development for his Hyper Intuition.

No more than ten minutes later (7:34, Reborn ticked off), a group of five children between 9 and 11 years old (he recognized _Kurokawa Hana, 10; no remarkable physical skills, top of her grade at elementary school_ ) approached the house. They waited around the entrance, talking quietly to each other and sharing breakfast treats. Sawada Tsunayoshi ( _9; no physical skills at all, doesn’t care about school_ ) came out less than a minute later, giving an eye sweep around the trees before he joined the group.

Well, then. It would seem the youngest Sawada was more aware of his surroundings than his brother. He would have to keep an eye out for him.

Once he figured no more people would come by, Reborn jumped off the tree and to the mailbox. He dropped his flyer in it, gave a puppy cookie to Takeda Keiko's dog, and hopped off to stalk his new student...s.

* * *

 

** 002 **

** Reborn **

 

Sawada Hidetada was, once again, late. Mamma wasn’t really strict about curfew or anything, but she always expected them all to be at home by dinner, which would be… in about half an hour. It was kind of funny, that Tsuna constantly called in to be picked up early and Hide spent a few hours after class everyday either patrolling or loitering around town (not that he likes loitering, but it is better than crowding, and who knows what Hibari- _sempai_  would do if he stayed after-hours in _school grounds_ ).

It was like they balanced each other. Sure, neither Tsuna or Hide really _liked_ hanging out with people and they both had problems with crowds and their father, but what Hide usually did, Tsuna would never do and vice versa (some would argue Tsuna was terrible at everything. Hide would take his _jō_ and ram it up their--). He couldn’t cook to save his life, or play board games for more than half an hour without him going cross-eyed (Tsuna was the _king_ of the board); he could, however, sit in a classroom for the whole school day without collapsing and fix clothes and other things with medium skill.

He dares anyone to comment on his _sewing_. He draws a line at knitting and embroidery, because he _definitely_ doesn’t need to know how to stitch cute patterns into his clothes. Really, him knowing how to sew and Tsuna learning measurements and easy recipes since he was small were more necessity than true hobbies. Mamma was always there, but she did tire and their father didn’t exist.

He wonders if one day, Iemitsu will appear and claim they are old enough to live on their own. It honestly wouldn’t surprise him, considering how he is. Last time he was around he kept believing Tsuna was still five.

Home is where the heart is, and Iemitsu’s heart isn’t with them. Sad, but true.

Speaking of home, there was the door. He knocked out of politeness before opening it with his key, taking a second to look at his wrist watch. He was really, really late and really, really tired.

“I’m home,” he called as he took off his shoes and dropped his staff in the umbrella rack (which had never, so far, held an actual umbrella). He heard Tsuna running upstairs and a high pitched voice in the kitchen- no, wait, it was in front of him.

“ _Ciaossu_ ,” the voice said, coming from a _baby_  standing before him. “You are late, I was hoping to be done with my preliminary evaluation by now.”

And was the baby frowning, lips pursed and brows coming together, because that didn’t make any sense. It also didn’t make sense for the baby to be wearing a _black suit_ and tiny black dress shoes, along with a fedora indoors. And then, there was the pacifier (disturbingly familiar, though this one was yellow. Was it fashion to wear giant pacifiers, now?)

“Hide- _nii_  is back, can we have dinner now, Mamma?” Tsuna asked from the kitchen and, well, Hide would like dinner as well. Except there was this baby.

“Uhm-,” he said, eloquently, still looking at the baby who was looking at him with _sharp_  and _ancient_  eyes. “Sorry, but you are...?”

“My name is Reborn.” And then the baby sort of, pulled Hide down somehow mysterious (he refuses to admit he was kicked in the head by a _baby_ , even if that baby is Reborn) and stepped on his back. Hard. “I will be your home tutor starting today.”

Well, he guessed weirder things had happened. He lived in a town where odd things tended to gather -or rather, lived with the _person_ odd things tended to gather around. There was the creepy ghosts in old town, Hibari- _sempai_  and the DC ruled most -if not all- of Nami Circle's schools with an iron fist somehow (really, how did the police not interfere?), Yamamoto Takeshi was the second coming of Matsui Hideki and his mother's cooking had healing properties. A few towns away there was a kid with _crosses_  as pupils and his little brother had a glowing stone pacifier he got from an old man in a store that didn’t actually exist.

He wanted to draw the line at tutor babies with highly articulate speech and monstrous strength (how old was the baby, one? Two?), except Tsuna was there, picking up Reborn and kicking Hide’s shoulder.

“Get up, Hide- _nii_ , it is dinner time.”

* * *

 

** 003 **

** Daemon Spade **

 

"The truth is, I am a hitman" the Arcobaleno (Sun, if his eyes weren’t playing games on him. Which they usually didn’t, but at times they did) said. He was setting up a hammock on one side of Hidetada’s room, slow and steady, at the same time he assembled a few traps around the perimeter. Interesting.

Daemon looked back at Hidetada to see his reaction. As expected, his pen had dropped and his mouth was wide open. He would have told him off for his attitude in front of _guests_ , but all his energy was currently focused on not being discovered. Not that the Arcobaleno _could_ : while strong, they had only one lifetime to hone their skills (except for the Grim, but he was different).

“I am here to raise you into a proper Mafia boss.”

Daemon chuckled to himself, tugging back at his connection with Tsunayoshi. There was no need for him to listen to this conversation: the Sun Arcobaleno probably wouldn’t say much of anything to a _civilian_ , no matter what he would be in the future. Information could not be given so freely. Then again, they _did_ live quite an easy life.

Tsunayoshi was sitting on his bed, reading from the huge volume of World History Daemon had borrowed from the Vongola library (his small, cozy storehouse under Tsunayoshi’s bed was quite full of borrowed books and items from the Vongola. Maybe he should start giving them back). His Japanese homework was abandoned on the table once again, along with a half-played game of chess they had started a few days ago (he was winning, of course, though it was more of a teaching game than anything else) and a lukewarm mug of tea.

_Tsunayoshi_ , he called, directly into the link. Usually he wouldn’t worry about eavesdroppers at all, but now that the Sun Arcobaleno was here, he would have to be more careful. _We are done with history for the week. Please focus on your penmanship_.

“But that is boring.” It was a barely audible whisper, but Daemon heard it still. With a sigh, he went to sit/float next to his dear student, taking the book from his hands. “I’m tired.”

_ Then get ready for bed. You will finish your homework before class tomorrow. _

“Alright.”

Not that he really cares about Tsunayoshi’s schooling, but having a heir who does terrible in this so-called ‘school’ would not inspire respect. Society has become weird, caring so much about a simple number on paper instead of what is truly important. Intelligence, emotions, strength? Which was the one that truly held together the world?

People with the skill to _lead and manage_ are seen as useless, simply for not having the skills to _do_  which are needed to support… well, everything. But if there was no one above leading them, then they would run around like headless chickens without a care for the world. And then, everything would collapse. It was the unfortunate case of the Sawada family

_Tsunayoshi_ is _weak_ , Daemon thought to himself as he watched the boy put away his books. He was clumsy: fact, he had just tripped and dropped the pile of books that was now floating above his head, a pout in his face and trying to glare at him (it would be adorable, if he didn’t know this little pouting boy could set ablaze a dead animal and reduce it to ashes). He was uncoordinated and unable to do two different movements with his two individual hands, lacked balance (though it was getting better) and grace for some self-defence styles, and roughness and strength for the others. He was selectively stupid: fact, he couldn’t- actually, he wouldn’t read _kana_ or _kanji_ (and didn’t plan to learn, either), so he failed _everything_ , but had a sponge mind for practical knowledge like spoken languages and local geography.

It had been a work of the devil, to find a way to _teach_  Tsunayoshi things. He couldn’t be gentle, because then he would just be lazy; he couldn’t be too harsh, because then he would flee. He _definitely_ couldn’t focus on a single thing, because then he would get distracted and _fail_ _to do anything_. And, he couldn’t fight him in certain ways or Tsunayoshi would, somehow, find a way to make things work _against_ Daemon.

But, he had done it, and he likes to think he has done a good job so far.

Tsunayoshi was weak, but also _terrifying_ ; or, he would be if he had been allowed to grow in a proper environment, but unfortunately, he hadn’t. So here Daemon was, picking up _Iemitsu_ ’s slack by throwing near impossible challenges at the child while feeling himself challenged as well.

It had been a… surprisingly fun couple of years. He hadn’t done this before because there had been _no_  generation of the Vongola in which they actually _needed_ the Sawadas, but, well, this was _Giotto_ ’s heir. Giotto’s direct descendant, Hyper Intuition wide awake and working, flames just below a thought and a desire to _learn_ and _please_ , with nothing to restrain him because Iemitsu _didn’t_ care.

This was _way_  better than his original plan. Plan who was probably sleeping or cleaning ancient decorations. Tsunayoshi hadn’t gone visit him in a while, so maybe they should go soon; he still had rings to find.

“Good night, _sensei_.” Tsunayoshi was already in his bed, curled up under a blanket. The Vongola volume had been hidden under the bed (again) and the future Sky pacifier was under the pillow. “Don’t wander too far.”

Daemon smiled, floating another blanket over Tsunayoshi. He may be growing soft, or it may just be a natural reaction of being near a fluffy Vongola. Maybe the second, it is more possible.

After clicking the light off, he let his body vanish back into Tsunayoshi’s conscience, ignoring the yelling coming from the other room.

* * *

 

** 004 **

** Sun **

" **REBORN!** "

Tsuna woke up earlier than normal, if what his blinking clock showed was true. He took a glance at it, turned around and went back to sleep, ignoring his brother's screaming. Daemon was already awake and off of his head, probably annoying people somewhere.

It was an hour later when he woke up again and started getting ready for the day. Shirt, light jacket, pants and Daemon's bracelet went on him, and the pacifier-like charm he always carried around he threw into his bag (people teased him about it. He didn't care because, really, he didn’t want to _die_ ), along with last night's undone _kana_  homework and half-done sums. His tutor threw him a glare from the wherever-he-was, along with a really annoyed sounding ‘ _You didn’t finish your homework, Tsunayoshi_ ’, which he ignored as it was definitely too early to live.

"Good morning!" He greeted once he got downstairs, sitting on his chair and bringing his mug to his side. His mother waved at him while she chatted with the neighbour, and his brother was wolfing down his toast and coffee like his life depended on it. Reborn was calmly drinking his coffee, but he put the mug down to greet him as well.

"Good morning, Tsunayoshi." Reborn's high pitched voice was really cute, as expected of a baby, though Tsuna suspected he was not really a baby. The pacifier hanging from his neck was _far_  too familiar to his own to be a coincidence. "Will you be picked up by your classmates today?"

"Yes!" He laughed (tea made him feel more alive, thanks), almost reaching to pat Reborn on the head before he realized what he was doing. Instead, he poked Hide's arm. "Do you have training today?"

"Hah-? Yes!" Hide nodded wildly, slamming down his mug. "I'm late!"

Mamma giggled as Hide scrambled off his chair, hurriedly running upstairs. The sound of thrown things and harried steps came from above as she took her seat again, peeling an apple; Reborn looked at the stairs with a raised eyebrow.

"Hide- _kun_  may be really diligent with his training, but he doesn't focus much on school." Tsuna snorted at Mamma’s words: it wasn’t that Hide didn’t focus, it was that he couldn’t waste precious time reviewing and studying. He went to exams with what was in his head from class, which wasn’t that much.

He wondered what the whole ‘ _REBORN_! ’ thing had been about, but he didn’t think it would be wise to ask Reborn himself. Maybe he would ask Hide when he came back, or later. Later would be better.

As he ate the apple Mamma had put before him, he thought about the day ahead. Counselor after first period, probably. P.E. before lunch, art and crafts after? Maybe. Hide’s training after class, so he would get to see Haru… Maybe it was worth spending all day at school? It was supposed to be a bright day, though, which would give him a headache...

" _Hide_! "

At the voice outside, Tsuna's brother ran downstairs, looking as disheveled as always. He waved farewell to him as Reborn jumped over to Hide and on his head, making him hunch over for a second or two before straightening back up. With an _i'm going_ , he left, slamming the door closed.

Tsuna heard Takeshi greet his brother outside, laughing, and smiled wistfully.

Maybe one day, he as well…

“Tsu-kun, you have to be ready soon.”

“Okay, Mamma.” He finished his tea and kissed his mother’s cheek, smiling as she giggled. Bright, sunny; it left a small tingling sensation in his hands. Just like the dusk sun as it hid behind the horizon, or like the morning mist that wrapped around him in winter mornings. Familiar, comforting.

She was the reason why he bothered to get up.

* * *

 

** 005 **

** Old town **

 

At the end of the school day, Tsuna and his group of elementary schoolers walked to their respective homes. Surprisingly. Hana kept scolding him for **daring**  to leave her and Kyoko alone yesterday, and no matter what he said, she wouldn’t give up.

Hana was an incredible friend, really. She pushed him to do things, even if she would rather use her time better. She held his hand through his moments of daydreaming and helped get him through the lesson plans while everyone else was out playing. In exchange, he helped her with her history and English and gave her tips when her cookies didn’t quite come out as planned.

Kyoko, meanwhile, was a little more active in that sense. She was the one who talked him out of his down moments and dragged him away from the counselor when he didn’t feel like he could. She brought him his homework if he missed it and they would do it together after class, under watch of his mother or hers. If he needed someone to distract the grown-ups while he fixed something, Kyoko was the one he went to; if he needed someone to stall for time while Daemon showed him how to do something, Kyoko was always next to him.

They were his two only friends his age in Namimori. Enma was in another town and Byakuran, in the other side of the world. Shouichi- _san_  was older than his _brother_  and focused too much in his projects for Tsuna to really be able to _talk_ to him, while Haru was… Haru. She was like a sister to him.

One thing was clear, though: friends or no friends, he still disliked school. It was just too much of a waste of time, when he could just as well learn the material he needed from books or the internet, or Daemon (who explained things better than any of the teachers at school did).

“Are you even paying attention to me?” Hana slapped the back of his head, and he cried out. So maybe he wasn’t listening, she didn’t need to hit him! “We are here already, you fool.”

Tsuna finally paid attention to his surroundings, noticing the old wooden gate that lead to a stone staircase. His classmates were laughing at him, of course, so he just… ignored them and gave Hana a quick hug.

“See you tomorrow then,” he said, waving to the other, still laughing students without care.

He held back a whine at the number of stairs up the hill, even as Hana yelled at him to _man up, for once in your life!_  And then there were footsteps heading away from him and he knew he was truly alone.

Well, not really.

_She is right, though_ , he heard Daemon say into his head as he climbed up. Tsuna decided to not answer, focusing instead in the quest that was going up the hill. He ignored the remnants of the old town’s citizens who reached for his hands, circled the stone pillar that acted as town marker, climbed a little wall that had originally been the first building and hopped the three last steps into the slight slope that was (supposedly) the main street.

Namimori couldn’t have _counted_  as a town back when it was founded. More like a village -no, even less than a village. As Daemon unhelpfully added another work to his dictionary ( _hamlet, Tsunayoshi, it is called a hamlet_ ), Tsuna made a quick way to the second house.

When Ieyasu- _sama_  had arrived to Japan (somehow, probably hidden in a Russian ship or in a barrel or something equally ridiculous), Namimori had been a too-small community of _nothingness_  built to ease trade between the port town and the inner town. _On top of a hill_ , not that the hill was all that hard to climb; he guessed it would have been easy if one was used to it. Still, it had been so small it hadn’t even featured in maps (Tsuna often thinks it still doesn’t), until people started gathering around because of the old Gods and Ieyasu- _sama_ ’s _seer powers_.

The ancient house of Sawada wasn’t really ancient (two hundred years was nothing next to _Japan_ ), but it was one of the oldest in the town and also, one of the nicest around. Also, full of ghosts and spirits and items that were impossible to believe. Not that anyone cared because no one cared about old town except for old town citizens anymore.

So, there were six (or seven, maybe. Did the _dōjō_ count as a house or as a public building?) houses in total, three in one side, two on the other and the mammoth that was the Hibari household following a straight line from the staircase and probably going all the way down to Midori, as well (who knew, he had never been at the Hibari compound). However, while the Hibari house was huge and gave the (correct, at that time) idea that it was a city hall, prison and judge room all in one, the houses around it were all… small.

The Sawada house was _specially_  small in comparison and seemed to be a… It seemed to be unfinished, that’s for sure. Or something. _Daemon_  complained about everything in the house: too many openings, not _enough_ openings, too much light, how do you _open_ this door, why is there no basement; the list of complains was endless.

The thing about old town was, there were _no  people_ through the day. Hibari Kyouya spent all his days and some nights wandering, _his_  parents were always off somewhere; the Asari family had given up the house three generations back, claiming it was _ too much expense _to keep it as it was (and then they vanished from Earth); the Miura had turned theirs into some kind of museum for two hundred years of clothes and delicate lamps made by their ancestors; the Kusakabe used only the _dōjō_ most of the time and etcetera, etcetera. Even the Sawada had left, what with Tsuna’s father moving out and Grandfather being too ill to come back home.

So it was  _supposed_ to be a lonely ghost town -except, it was  _literally_ a ghost town. There was a blonde man sitting by the ruins of the 7th house, holding a book and uncaring of the world as his body floated about twenty centimeters off ground. A black haired swordmaster swung his practice sword towards the trees, giving Tsuna a grin when he saw him before he vanished into a well (he waved and Tsuna waved back. Daemon asked him to _ please ignore the unimportant spirits of old ages and keep going_). A red-haired man was aiming a crossbow at what Tsuna guessed was an invisible target, muttering under his breath (he shot and Tsuna felt the  _whatever_ go past him at high speed, but there was  _nothing_ ).

And then there was a living person sitting outside the  _dōjō_ , reading the newspaper. She had her hair tied up in a tight bun and was hiding from the June sun using a paper umbrella. When she looked up, she smiled at him, her wrinkles all following and it was the kindest face  _ever_ .

"Greetings, stranger. Looking fine this beautiful evening, you are."

"Kusakabe- _sensei_  looks fine today as well," he said, going to sit next to the old woman, who laughed. Tsuna felt he had been walking for _hours_  and had to ask Daemon if he had done something. He was so _tired_. Then again, he was _always_  tired after a full day of school. “When will you go visit us, _sensei_?”

"Maybe I will go soon, have to visit Nana- _san_...  She deserves some support, and Takeda- _kun_  will not understand what she is going through, but, Tsunayoshi- _kun_ , would you like some tea?” She grinned as they stood and she lead him to the house. “I asked Tetsuya to _borrow_  some of Kyouya's new leaves so we can taste them. I do not know what is Nana- _san_ brewing you, but we cannot let your tastebuds die because of Hidetada- _kun_ _'_ s love for coffee, can we?"

* * *

 

** 006 **

** Law and peace **

Reborn had had an... interesting day, to say at least. Hidetada had a really fun life, that was.

That didn't stop him from looking for hiding spots and shooting the bullet if he thought _Baka_ -Hide couldn't deal with something. Not that it happened, as Hide knew what kind of troubles he would get in, like when Hibari Kyoya cornered him for his belated report on yesterday's patrolling (' _I mailed it! I mailed it last night! I'm sorry!_ ') or when Mochida Kensuke challenged him to a match to prove, once and for all, who was the better swordsman (' _It is a STAFF! And we are not allowed to fight in campus- oh, hi, Hibari-_ sempai _._ '). It had been a fun day.

Now, they were walking back -or, Hide was walking, Reborn sitting on his head- with Yamamoto Takeshi (Guardian candidate, if Reborn had any say. He had seen those reflexes and he wanted them in the family), talking about the day, tomorrow's homework and the upcoming baseball match. Yamamoto had his baseball bat hanging from his shoulder, as he wanted to get some solo practice done later, and _Baka_ -Hide had a red band strapped to his arm and kept looking at all directions with trained ease.

Well. It would seem there were some things he wouldn't have to train him in. Evaluation was still undergoing, though.

" **EXTREME**! Sawada! Yamamoto!" A yell came from behind them, and both of them turned around in unison. A white haired boy with lots of bandages was running up to them, a little girl with fluffy reddish brown hair following him. Both were dressed in sports gear, and Reborn recognized them as the siblings that jogged past Hide that morning. He dropped to the ground and disguised his presence, just observing. " **EXTREME GOOD EVENING**!"

"Good evening, Sasagawa-sempai!"

"Good evening, _sempai_ , Kyoko- _chan_ ," Hide said, bowing a little before straightening up and speaking with utmost seriousness, a hand tightening around his wrapped staff. "Quietness is requested in residential districts past 5 PM and until 5 AM, as agreed by the DC and the City Council of the Nami Circle. I will ask that you lower your voice, under risk of disciplinary actions."

"EXTREMELY understood." The boy, Sasagawa Ryohei (another candidate Guardian) spoke, his tone just a little quieter. Then he motioned to his sister, Kyoko, who stepped up closer and shuffled in nervousness. "My extreme! sister has something of your brother's."

"Hm- Uh, Tsuna- _kun_  left his workbook behind, _again_ , and, well." She blushed brightly, holding up said workbook to Hide, who took it and flipped through it. "I'm not in his class, but- hm, _sensei_ asked that I ask Hide- _nii_  to tell Tsuna- _kun_ to at least try to do his _kana_ homework next time and-"

It seemed to be too much for her, as she blushed even brighter and hid behind her brother, who laughed and patted her head. Hide sighed and put the workbook away, while Yamamoto just shook his head.

"I will tell him. Thanks, Kyoko- _chan_.  Sasagawa- _sempai_. "

"It is EXTREmely alright, Sawada!" Sasagawa was making an effort to keep quiet, it would seem. Kyoko just muttered something and blushed cutely at Hide's smile.

After bidding their farewells, _Baka_ -Hide and Yamamoto continued on their ways, with no more interruptions until they reached the public baseball field. There, they high-fived and Yamamoto gave a tiny handshake to Reborn (it helped that Hide was short).

"So, where is your training?" Reborn asked once they were alone and Hide continued his lazy, watchful walk around the town. They had seen the occasional prefect walking around, doing exactly the same as Hide, and Reborn really wondered about it. He would have to meet Hibari Kyouya personally (the whole DC thing had been going on for _years_ , now, if his research was right. There had to be something behind it).

"Old town," said Hide, motioning to a wooden archway and, past it, an ancient staircase in a hill. It was surrounded by trees and, in front of it, like a mirror, was another archway and ancient staircase. Hide pointed to this second hill. "That one leads up the shrine and our cemetery. Past the hills are some houses, but mostly it's countryside, and the road that leads to Midori and Kokuyou, but you probably know that already."

"...A hill town?" Reborn just had to ask. The history of Namimori was a mystery to him and, really, why did Primo chose this particular town to live in?

"It was easy to defend, and not too close, but not too far to the port. The Gods were said to have settled here, as well; a pair of dragons, I think? Or was it something else- I don't know, Tsuna probably does, he talks with _sensei_ a lot." They were climbing up the stairs, which were _old_. There were little stones with long melted candles by the side, and it seemed like the trees had grown niches perfect for assassination spots. It was making Reborn paranoid. "There aren't many people still living in old town, though. It is kinda slow and lazy. I wish grandfather had rebuilt the old house, I like this place better."

Hide had whispered the last part, probably meant to himself. Reborn had to think.

The boy practiced _aikido_ , an art meant to protect both user and the one used against from injury. It was a peaceful martial arts, even if the weapon-based ones were a little more aggressive than the hand-to-hand ones. He also revelled in discipline and hated rule breaking, from what he had seen. He got nervous at the idea of conflict, afraid at the idea of Mafia and terrified at the idea of his little brother getting involved.

Sawada Hidetada liked peace. He liked quiet and silence. He didn't like crowds, except for two or three friends he hung out with. His mother was the same. His brother was the same. If he could expand his sense to all of Namimori, all of Namimori would be the same.

Yet, Iemitsu was Mafia. And Sawada Hidetada was one of the two remaining heirs to the Vongola.

Reborn sighed. This would be harder than he initially thought.

* * *

 

** 007 **

** Kusakabe Chiyo **

 

When Hide got to the _dōjō_ , he found Kusakabe- _sensei_  and Tsuna sitting outside enjoying a cup of tea each, while a goddess by the name of Miura Haru played with a stray cat. He took a look at her, a look at Tsuna (who grinned up at him) and a look at his _sensei_  (who smiled at him, then raised a brow at Reborn, still sitting atop his head), before cursing his life.

If there had been one other student, his life could be easier.

Choices. Choices, so many choices.

" _Hahi_!? Hide- _san_!" Haru greeted from where she was kneeling next to the cat, raising her hand. And then she noticed Reborn, so she jumped up, her skirt flaring around her, revealing her- Her leggings. Yes. "And who may this be?"

" _Ciaossu_ ," said Reborn from atop his head. "I'm Reborn. I'm _Baka_ -Hide's home tutor."

"Home tutor? Hide- _san_ , if you needed a home tutor, you could have asked Haru instead!" She laughed, and it was heavenly. He could die happy as of that moment, except she was still talking. "So, a baby is tutoring Hide- _san_? Sounds like fun!"

“I am a Mafia tutor,” Reborn admitted, easily, jumping to the ground (much to Haru’s dismay). And of course, this brought forth lots of…

“ _Mafia_!? Hide- san, what are you _teaching_  this child!?”

Ah, there it was. Haru’s legendary overprotectiveness that seemed to spread over every child below the 12-years-old line. Her eyes glowing, her face flushed, hands tightly fisted to the sides of her skirt, and _those legs_ -

“It is probably a joke, Miura- _san_.” Kusakabe- _sensei_  interfered, one hand atop her student’s shoulder, her eyes fixed on Reborn’s small form. “Will Miura- _san_  and Tsunayoshi- _kun_  head inside? We have some things to discuss.”

She pushed Haru lightly to the side, making a shooing motion to the both of them, and Haru huffed. She stalked to Tsuna’s side and took his hand, threw open the sliding door and stepped in. Turning around, she stuck her tongue out and pulled her lower eyelid down, mocking, before she closed the door shut again.

Ah, yes. What a goddess.

“Do you like that girl?”

Hide looked to the side, noticing Reborn was looking up at him with a smirk and Kusakabe-sensei was hiding a laugh behind her hands. He waved his arms before his face, trying to get them to stop, but, well…

“I-I-It isn’t like that! No, n-not at all! I ju-”

“Hidetada- _kun_  is a healthy young man.” _Sensei_  said, giving him a last smile before she got serious again. “I see the family matters have caught up to you.”

“He will become Vongola Decimo,” Reborn chirped, almost happily. If the spawn from hell could be happy, that is. “I am thankful I don’t have to instruct him in fighting as well.”

“Ah, yes, you are right.” She bowed to the baby, a deep and formal bow, and Hide stared. He had _never_  seen _sensei_  show so much respect for someone who wasn’t a Hibari or Grandfather. “I hope we can give our shared pupil complimentary teachings, Reborn- _san_. I am Kusakabe Chiyo.”

And Reborn… Reborn bowed back, though with his small body, it was hard to tell. “Pleasure to finally meet the master of my colleague.”

“Wait, wa- _Sensei_ is in the _Mafia_? ” He almost shouted, but kept his voice down. Barely. You didn’t shout before sensei (you didn’t do lots of things in _sensei_ ’s presence).

“No,” she said, smiling once again like she always did (a habit that Tetsu- _san_  had inherited and was the most annoying thing in the world). “But, I did teach some people who ended up in it. As well as your father, and whoever, whatever.” She finished with a small hand motion and pointed to the _dōjō_ , her eyes sparkling. “For now, though, we should get inside.”

“Yes, sensei.” And that was that.

* * *

 

** 008 **

** Miura Haru **

 

Sitting inside a _dōjō_ while class was undergoing was even more boring than sitting inside a _dōjō_ when there were no class. Reborn could see _students_ , and felt the urge to correct them and whip them into shape, but these were not _his_  students. Only _Baka_ -Hide was and him, besides being _too soft_ on his opponents, had a really good form.

The group was small, seven or eight students, with Hide and the girl by the name Miura Haru being the eldest and highest ranked ones, asides from Kusakabe. The both of them seemed to be either assistant teachers or demonstration dummies, as they did  _kata_ through  _kata_ , disarming, countering and disabling. It was cute, definitely more than he expected from a martial arts group in peaceful, quiet Namimori.

It wouldn’t do.

He focused on the girl. She was now going through a series of _tantō kata_ , slowly and with no pressure. She made mistakes, _lots_  of them, but her footwork was steady and her movements were balanced. She didn’t seem tired, even though it had been a long while of faster-paced demonstrations before this, and so far she hadn’t lost her focus.

Hide, meanwhile, was distracting himself by twirling a staff and occasionally startling the younger students by sweeping at their feet. It was _adorable_ , but, it wouldn’t do.

“Is something wrong?” Tsunayoshi, who was sitting at his said with a book open on his lap, asked. His voice was soft, almost monotone, and Reborn felt _uneasy_  whenever he spoke. Like it wasn’t meant to be like that, like something was _missing_. “You were staring at Haru- _nee_.”

“Just watching.” He replied, reaching for the cup of tea he had been given earlier on. It wasn’t quite what he enjoyed (he was used to black tea, _espresso_ and hard alcohol. This green tea was new), but he wouldn’t deny Kusakabe’s hospitality… or Tsuna’s tea. “Japanese martial arts are quite different from what I’m used to.”

“They are fun to watch.” Tsuna nodded, agreeing with him. Then he went back to his book, expression completely neutral.

And then someone was kneeling in front of them, a pair of wooden knives placed by their sides. Reborn looked away from Tsuna to face the girl, who was smiling at them while opening a water bottle.

“Tsuna- _kun_  and Reborn- _chan_  sitting together makes quite a cute image.” She said, happily. Reborn just stared at her while she drank her water, startled, before looking back at Tsuna who… wasn’t paying attention. And then the girl spoke again. “The both of you give off that feeling of not caring about anything, you know?”

“I care enough.”

Reborn thought there was something _wrong_  with Tsunayoshi by the absolute lack of… well, of _anything_  as he spoke. Should he ask Mamma? Should he call _Iemitsu_? It had been the same last night, when he got to the Sawada house: the boy had looked at him, nodded as greeting and disappeared upstairs until dinner. And then this morning he was cheerful, happily chatting with his mother.

Hide… Hide hadn’t been so bad. Last night he had had a minor freak out, gone mute for a few minutes before he started going a mile per hour about how he _couldn’t be a Mafia boss_  while scratching at the wooden table.

Child anxiety, maybe? He knew Iemitsu was an obsessive worrier and slightly paranoid; had that trait been inherited by the children? Note to self, observe. For now, though, ask questions.

“Miura- _san_ -”

“Call me Haru, Reborn- _chan_!”

“Haru- _san_  then. Have you and Hide been taking these lessons for long?” He looked up at the girl, who was looking thoughtfully at her bottle. “I-”

“ _Hahi_! No, no, it’s okay!” She waved the bottle around, spilling some on her clothes. Laughing, she settled down and capped the bottle. “We have been here since… first year in grade school? I think? It has been a while!”

“So long? Do you like it, then?” He was so confused (why couldn’t these children fit his expectations?).

“It reeeeally isn’t that Haru likes it all that much,” she said, making a huge show of rolling her neck. With her head tilted to her shoulder, she _hm_ ’d and brought her hand to her cheek. It reminded Reborn a little of Sawada Nana. “It is more of… a necessity? Or something like that. Hide- _san_   _loves_  it, though, but mostly because he gets to discipline the younger students-”

“And he likes feeling safe,” Tsuna finished, to which Haru agreed loudly and happily. Tsuna hadn’t looked away from his book at all since he opened it -actually, he hadn’t flipped the page, either. Were his eyes closed? “Hide- _nii_  doesn’t like the idea of defenselessness.”

“Haru wouldn’t like it either, so I’m glad we joined this,” Haru nodded, and then leaned forth to wrap her arms around Tsunayoshi. “But, Tsuna- _kun_ , Tsuna- _kun_ , will you come visit Haru- _nee_  tomorrow?”

Reborn decided to ignore their short conversation, eyes focused on the book. Even when Tsuna protested about Haru picking him up and spinning him around, he didn’t do anything. There was something really off about the book, after all.

As he flipped the pages, eyes narrowed and trying to ignore the loud duo before him, he focused. The cover was generic, fake leather and gold letters (or more like, gold squiggly lines, because they didn’t say anything. Not that he realized that at that moment), with the four Western card suits in each corner. The pages were thin and felt like they would break under his fingers, but they didn’t. It seemed to be a child’s tale, in English, with colorful illustrations, so he just set it aside-

No, wait. He shook his head and took another look at the pages. Focused in the corners, this time. Waited a few seconds, trying to wade through the Mist that covered his thoughts, and looked back at the page.

It was completely blank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's saturday so update. This chapter was brought to you by the me from 'back when I was still trying to write this as a full story' (which is why it is so cohesive). Reborn POV is impossible, because what's a Reborn.  
> Coming up next: hopefully faster pacing.  
> Thanks for all the kudos!


	3. town of the curious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which important characters are introduced, Tsunayoshi is creepy and Hidetada gets slowly more used to being Mafia. Or not.  
> Featuring: a Storm, a Rain, a fake Sun and a baby Lightning. And a sudden plunge into the darkness.

 

**009**

**Book**

_You need to be more careful on where and when you contact me, Tsunayoshi, specially now that the Arcobaleno is here. Remember what I have told you about Arcobaleno, Tsunayoshi._

Daemon was ranting. He had been ranting for the whole weekend, ever since he realized _Sun Arcobaleno Reborn_ had noticed his Book. Not that Reborn could _see_ what the Book held, but he still had managed to see past the illusion that made people _not care_ about the Book. And so, he had been ranting.

Tsuna had added the word _Arcobaleno_ to his long growing list of Daemon’s trigger words. There were a lot, like _Iemitsu_ and _Primo_ , that would just get him to rant about faulty bloodlines and disappointing parenting; family matters, in general. Then there were a set that would get him raving about world domination and perfect conquest ( _Vongola_ , _rings_ , _Tri-ni-Sette_ ), which Tsuna had learned to ignore. And then, there were the paranoia triggering words which were… simply awful.

Daemon while paranoid was _terrible_. He turned clingy, obsessive and borderline abusive, sending wave after wave of nightmare material into his head. And it wasn't material even closely related to Tsuna's natural fears. Asides from dogs, Tsuna had a healthy fear for people ( _people will hurt you if you can’t manage them well, Tsunayoshi_ ), which he dealt with by talking his way off dangerous situations; his phobia of the outside world he couldn’t do much about, nor could Daemon ( _never show fear, no matter how big the world is. You are small, but_ they _are smaller_ ), but then there were Mafia-related words which triggered the paranoia which were sort of funny.

 _Secondo_. _Simon_ (which Enma had laughed at, quietly, through the phone, before telling him the Simon weren’t _as_ crazy as Daemon claimed). _Varia_. _Timoteo_. And now, _Arcobaleno_.

 _We will need to put a stronger seal on the Book. We will do it next week, alright? For now, you need to finish your homework and seal the letter to the Mare heir._ Daemon had said the same thing for the last two days. His letter for Byakuran was already sealed and ready to be mailed; his homework was… still undone. What a surprise. _You will not let anyone see the Book or enter your room, will you?_

The thing about the Book was that it was, technically, Daemon’s mind. Or well, his knowledge and memories that he had disconnected off himself for a chance to stay sane. Half sane. Originally, it had been a set of playing cards, but those had been eaten by time and mold, so they had decided to shove them into a blank journal (‘ _It will be like you are Voldemort_ ’, he had said, laughing. Daemon wasn’t happy) until they could find another alternative.

They never did get to move the memories, but they did find a few nice, durable playing card sets that they set aside just in case. And tarot decks, and a set of ancient rune stones that Daemon didn’t want to admit he loved ( _me, using such pagan ways of divination?_ Tsuna kept telling him that, technically, _everything_ they did was pagan). And of course, board games that kept slowly piling up on one side of the room because they played them once and then forgot about them until a year later.

“No, _sensei_ ,” he whispered, still watching as Daemon paced left and right in his small room with his invisible feet. “Will you sit with me?”

And Daemon did, slumping (gracefully) next to him and stroking his hair. Tsuna liked Daemon because he, in a weird, messed up way, did care about him. Even if he was _almost_ an Arcobaleno, even if he would probably never make it to be Vongola Decimo, Daemon cared. Cared enough to help him seal off his room to uninvited guests, to help him slip out of classes they both classified as useless and to be always around to listen (well, he was a _ghost_ and he was stuck in his mind, so in a way, he couldn’t leave, but he never complained about Tsuna’s whining).

He curled up on Daemon’s lap, sighing.

_...do you want me to stay?_

“Please.”

He went to sleep like that, probably floating a few inches from the bed to anyone’s eyes. Who cared, he was content.

He would _never_ understand how could anyone consider Daemon heartless.

  
****

* * *

**010**

**Recount**

  
"...and that's how it is done." Reborn wrote the final few digits on the mini-whiteboard he had brought into Hide's room the other day, motioning to it with a flourish. "Now, let's work on schoolwork."

Hide had never had such a crazy week in his life. Yes, there were things that remained the usual (certain scheduled events that _never_ strayed far from his day to day life, or he would collapse), but the addition to Reborn to _each and every single one of them_ was starting to turn his head upside down. Tsuna, in the other room and probably beating himself in chess again, was bad enough to deal with half the time; he couldn't deal with two crazy _children_ in his family home.

Not that he believes Tsuna is crazy, or anything moderately offensive, but he has lived with him for almost ten years and even he notices the weird... weirder things around his brother. Reborn had brought changes, but Hide will always trust Tsuna and Mamma to remain exactly the same.

One of the biggest changes was the _bullet_. Why did a baby have a gun, why did that gun have bullets that killed you to _unlock your true potential_ , or whatever? He has been hit... really few times with it, luckily, which gave him a few minutes of _nonsense_ and strength and nakedness he didn't understand. Also, fire.

He should learn to _not_ complain about things, maybe. The first time he openly complained about something before Reborn (morning jogs, because he _was_ tired and he didn't want to deal with a baby tutor), he had been shot. And what's the first thing he says?

 _"_ _ **REBORN**_ _! Keep up with Ryohei-_ sempai _with my dying will!"_

He is _still_ embarrassed. _No one_ in this world can keep up with Ryohei's running, _no one_ (except maybe Kyoko, when she tried, which she never did). And yet, somehow, he had matched Ryohei's pace, which turned the whole thing into a race, which left him deader than dead at 7 AM.

Was he really that competitive? Actually, when had he ever been competitive?

Don't even mention the _one_ time he had to execute a miscreant in the last four days when Reborn had been shadowing him like a stalker. He _usually_ didn't like beating them up, but then the guy had retaliated (which they didn't do. Hide got to patrol the 'peaceful' areas in the middle of town since he hated beating up people) and Reborn had had the _gall_ to shoot him again.

 _"_ _**REBORN** _ _! Maintain the peace of Namimori with my dying will!"_

Wasn't _he_ the one disrupting it, with his excessive yelling, public indecency and beating up a whole gang of _crowders_ who had come to help the other guy? How long could this go on before Hibari- _sempai_ got to him and sent him to the morgue for ruining beautiful, peaceful Namimori?

Hide was glad, happy even, Hibari- _sempai_ was off town until next week. He wouldn't be able to deal with it if he was around. He still wasn’t glad about _Reborn_.

“ _Baka_ -Hide,” the mini-tutor said, aiming his gun, and Hide was scrambling to answer the questions in his worksheet. Destroy him and his life, he just wants things to go back to normal. “...I have called a hitman from Italy.”

“You _what!?_ ” He found himself yelling without his consent (and there was a loud sound in the hallway, probably Tsuna throwing things at the wall again). A hitman, a _hitman_ , another one, here, in Namimori. No. “No.”

“You can’t do anything about it.” And Reborn was smirking, the hell-spawn baby, his gun still aimed straight at Hide like it was the most natural thing. Which, it probably was; this was _Reborn_. “He will arrive Monday.”

“...” He wanted to respond, fight back, _anything_ if it will get Reborn to stop looking at him like that. Instead, he took a breath, his pen doodling dot after dot in his worksheet while he tried to relax. “Is this part of your… evaluation?”

“It is.”

Well, then. Better get ready for Monday. Prepare the big guns (not literally), get Tetsu- _san_ to arrange his funeral, ask someone to get Tsuna away from Namimori for a few days. Would Irie- _san_ be willing to go on a trip to Tokyo?

  
****

* * *

**011**

**Gokudera Hayato**

Smoking Bomb Hayato is... confused.

For some reason, he is having dinner with the person he had tried to kill not two hours ago. Yes, dinner. He had tried to kill him, and he had invited him to dinner.

"Gokudera- _kun_ , could you pass the sauce?"

So he did. The sauce is delicious, especially with the meat to go along.

Here he is , sitting next to the greatest Hitman, Reborn- _san_ (who is sitting in a special baby chair, his food cut up into tiny pieces beforehand), in front of the Vongola heir (whom he had _tried to kill_ ), who is sitting besides his brother(quietly getting green peas from one side of the plate to the other, closer to Vongola Decimo), who is besides their mother (chatting into the phone with her sister, in heavily accented dialectal English). Tsunayoshi-(Sawada- _kun_? Sawada- _san_? Sawada- _sama_? _Undecimo_? _Tsunayoshi-sama?)-san_ seems to be paying half attention to the conversation, but mostly his attention is in getting rid of the green peas on his plate.

Decimo, instead, is more focused in Hayato himself.

_He had tried to kill him._

"Say, Gokudera- _kun_ , do you have where to stay? Because you are looking quite weary, and, well, we don't mind you staying here tonight," he was saying, _still_ smiling, and Hayato honestly doesn't know if he is going to be killed or _what_. "You need a few days to recover."

"I am fine, Decimo," he manages to get out. If anyone has any right to _not_ be fine, it is _Decimo himself_ ,who threw himself in the dynamite's path to get _Hayato_ out of his own weapon's range of fire. While that happened, the happy-go-lucky guy with the baseball bat had batted the remaining dynamite away, watching with a laugh as they exploded _far, really far_ up in the sky (how had he hit them in the right angle for them to not _explode on hit_ , is still a mystery for him, and he is a genius. He is confused. Even Decimo was confused, but apparently, Reborn understands. He mentioned something about Rain flames, and left it at that).

"That's good!" Decimo grins, serving him another glass of juice. Hayato is still wary, but he takes the glass and takes a sip. "I am _so_ glad Hibari- _sempai_ is off town, though, Tetsu- _san_ won't hurt us as bad- Tsuna!"

And Decimo has finally noticed the extra peas in his plate, much to Reborn- _san_ 's amusement. He snorts and imparts his wisdom ('keep your eyes open at all times, _Baka_ -Hide, even in your own home'), while Tsunayoshi- _san_ puts the remainining peas on the plate and gets up.

" _Thanks for the meal_ ," he says, in English, to which his mother nods happily (still in her phone conversation). And then, he disappears up the stairs.

Hayato is doubly confused.

His arrival to Namimori had coincided with what he will later dub the ‘Hibari-break’. People had been cheery, all day long; they had been smiling and giving gifts to each other, housewives trading gossip in street corners, friends and acquaintances greeting each other to the distance. A turf-top head had given him a half bottle of juice, yelling he looked _extremely tired!_ and a little girl with black hair had offered him half a pear.

School had been strangely relaxed (nothing like Hayato’s elementary school and definitely nothing like what his… mother, had said Japanese schools were like), except for a dozen or more red-armband wearing teenagers who patrolled the campus with stoic expressions. He had given the paperwork to his teacher and shown around by a ‘nameless member of the community’ (who also had a red armband).

He had later discovered said nameless member of the community was actually Sawada Hidetada, that he was in his class and was the heir to Vongola (Vongola Decimo, tutored by Reborn and son of the Young Lion of Vongola), and that every member of the Disciplinary Committee were nameless members of the community when on-duty. He had challenged him to a duel for the title of boss and was… surprised.

“ _You can have the title, I’d rather stay here and help maintain the peace of Namimori.”_

Decimo had given in when he had threatened to blow up the classroom. Not even the people, because there were no after-class activities on Hibari-break days, just the _classroom_. And even then, he had refused to fight anywhere close to campus, looking terrified at the idea of it. Through the battle, he had lead Hayato out into an abandoned lot close to school, where tehy were followed by the smiling freak with the bat.

Sawada Hidetada was… interesting. When in the middle of the battle, he had been shot by the Dying Will bullet, which had made him defuse the most bombs in the mindset of them ‘being too loud for after-school hours’. And then Hayato had been pushed back when he had accidentaly thrown his dynamites with his injured arm (while the freak batted them off the atmosphere) and that was that.

“ _You are the man who is meant to be Vongola Decimo! Please, allow me to be your subordinate!”_

The bat freak had laughed while Decimo denied, one and once again, to ever want a subordinate (because ‘I’m just a nameless member of the community, we _can’t_ _have subordinates_!’). Reborn had then proclaimed dinner time.

Hayato feels this day will not be the weirdest in a long time.

He is looking forwards to it.

* * *

**  
012**

**Irie Shouichi**

"Takeshi _-nii-san_?"

It is Tsuna and Daemon's weekly shrine walking day. Or more like, the weekly day when Tsuna takes his babysitter out to the shrine (much to his dismay) and forces him to accept that _ghosts are real, Shouichi-san, there is one standing right behind you_. As much as he _loves_ his little friend (who had started as his mother's charge and then ended up as his a couple of years ago), Tsuna is borderline _crazy_ , probably schizophrenic as well- which would make Shouichi schizophrenic too, since he _can_ see the... ghosts.

The spiritual and supernatural forces are something Irie Shouichi will never understand, accept or comprehend. He knows Daemon Spade. He knows Sawada Tsunayoshi (pretty well) and also knows Gesso Byakuran (or is it Byakuran Gesso?), so he _knows_ they exist. But, he has never allowed himself a moment to explain them to himself and, so, has never really accepted them as real. He has tried to give explanations to Tsunayoshi, Daemon and Byakuran; even tried to give an explanation to the constantly vanishing watches around town, but...

Ghosts? Mirages caused by differences in air charges. _Differently colored flames_? Maybe they are burning at different heats. Who knows. Peering into different worlds? Unacceptable, Byakuran _-kun_ must be dreaming. Daemon Spade? A collective hallucination. _Definitely_. Not real, not physical, Shouichi has _never_ woken up to see the collective hallucination hovering in his room, muttering quietly as he looked at his plans and sketches for _cool stuff_.

Here is another supernatural, one he doesn't know at all. Yamamoto Takeshi, one he has heard about, but has never gotten to meet. Supposedly part of Hidetada's mindhive, which doesn't make any sense, but he has heard Dae- the hallucinations tales of perfectly coordinated schedules and speech.

Yamamoto was naturally good at everything physical he does, though not very smart (definitely, not smart, but maybe _clever_ would be a better word). Instinctive, with very good reflexes and a physique that is ideal for baseball -or swordsmanship, but no one mentions the sword near him anymore (the hallucination likes to complain about wasted talents and lost family skills. Shouichi has heard a lot about that in the past two years).

Not as much a supernatural as he is a genius (and Shouichi doesn't believe it, but people say he falls into that category as well) Yamamoto, though, is much more amazing than anyone else in Namimori, just below Hibari Kyouya (unexplainable, also completely crazy) and, maybe, Sasagawa Ryohei. He is pretty sure there is a ranking around for the _most physically talented_ or _naturally inclined to be scary_ , and if there is, then those three are at the top.

Tsunayoshi- _kun_ has already stepped up to the other boy (he is a friend of Hidetada- _san_ 's, so he guesses they know each other. Shouichi _doesn't_ feel jealous), but Shouichi and the collective hallucination stay behind. The Sawada family grave serves as a good cover for them, so he sits down behind it and pulls at the orchids (joke's on you, Tsunayoshi _loves_ orchids, as expensive as they are) that Byakuran left behind in his last visit (there is another supernatural. _No one_ should be able to eat that many sweets, never mind the whole _other worlds_ thing).

The hallucination vanishes in blue mist, probably off to spy. Annoying hallucinations will always be annoying, but, well, anything is more interesting than listening to other Yumei students gossip about what goes on in the Nami Circle. Yumei students have the reputation of being smart and high class, but most of them are spoiled brats. That's why he babysits Tsunayoshi, because he _can't stand his classmates_. And, because his mother was too busy one day and things degenerated from there.

He considers it his personal responsibility to keep Tsunayoshi away from everything dangerous and _crazy_ and remotely related to _bullshit_. He has failed splendidly.

Daemon-hallucination must have felt his non-hallucination wishes, since in a few seconds, he is hearing what he shouldn't be able to hear at this distance: Tsunayoshi and Yamamoto speaking, quietly, besides the Yamamoto family grave. How _this_ happens, is up to anyone's guess; Shouichi has tried to understand time and time again how Daemon and Tsunayoshi’s weird, unnatural and _completely not real_ bond works.

_"-haven't talked in a while."_

_"No, but Hide-_ nii _would have an attack."_

 _"That's true, haha,"_ but Yamamoto's laugh sounds forced and weak. _"Where is your bodyguard, Tsuna-_ chan _?"_

 _"Around- what happened to you!?"_ Tsunayoshi is known for worrying about people a lot. Most people don't like him much, though, for lots of reasons: unluckiness, 'cursed blood', freakiness and _dame_ -ness being some of them; so, he ends up worrying about a really close circle of people that are the Sawada family and those connected to them. Shouichi himself feels proud of being considered important enough to be there- They are still talking, _shh_.

_"...-messed up."_

_"Your mother_ _would not like to see this,"_ and Shouichi can see, in his mind's eye, Tsunayoshi standing straighter, his eyes glowing brighter, his whole demeanor changing: Daemon's hallucination nobleman's training and tutelage come into play when Tsunayoshi _cares_ and _shows_ he cares.

_"I need to become better, though. I need to-"_

_"Takeshi-_ nii-san _, why did you let go of the sword?"_

_"...because I hurt myself."_

_"Then why are you hurting yourself with the thing you like the second most?"_

Daemon's hallucination blue mist reappears next to him, and the conversation goes silent. The hallucination nobleman hums quietly before slamming his head (hallucination, remember, he is a _ghost_. It doesn't hurt him) on the stone grave behind him. Shouichi leans back besides it -him, whatever-, waiting for his charge to come back.

" _Tsunayoshi is so nice._ "

Somehow, he makes it sound like it is _wrong_.

* * *

  
**013**

**Casualties of war**

For a change, Hide gets picked up by Gokudera- _kun_ this morning.

He blinks, looks down the street for any sign of his best friend, then shrugs and smiles to Gokudera, raising his hand for a high five. The would-be-assassin looks confused for a whole of ten seconds before blushing, stuttering and weakly tapping his palm against Hide's.

It is an advance.

"Good morning, Gokudera _-kun_!"

"Good morning, Decimo." Gokudera nods, quite formally, still blushing. Hide can wish that, one day, Gokudera will stop blushing around him. Hopefully soon. "The baseball idiot seems to be late."

"Yeah, if he isn't here by this time, he's probably already at school." _Or not going_ , but he is scared enough of the possibilities to even consider it. Takeshi rarely skips classes and, when he does, it is most of the times because his thoughts have gotten the worst of him. "C'mon, let's go!"

He usually jogs the way to school, along with Takeshi, but he is still _sore_ from the assassination attempt a few days ago days ago. Who knew dynamite smoke could hurt so bad? He is pretty sure he evaded all of them (he doesn't want to _think_ how he would feel if he hadn't), so hopefully it will be better soon. So, they walk, at a quick pace but not enough to pull at their burns too badly.

"Is Reborn- _san_ not with you today, Decimo?" Gokudera asks, looking around in wonder.

"He is with Tsuna, for some reason." And hadn't that been a curious sight, Reborn holding Tsuna's hand while he explained, in long and drawn out syllables, why he needed to focus more at school (' _you are a Sawada, a member of the old and ancient families of Namimori; don't let the jealousy of other people affect your performance_ '). Today, breakfast had been interesting, what with Mamma oversleeping for once in a lifetime and Tsuna setting the table and bringing out food (it had been tea for all. Tea and tasteless scones which Tsuna and Mamma favored). "He will rejoin us after class."

"Is Tsunayoshi- _san_ in trouble?" Gokudera asks, and Hide still has no idea why he calls his _little_ brother _Tsunayoshi-_ san. Yes, sure, he gets the whole _Hide_ -sama and _Decimo_ treatment, while Mamma gets _Mamma_ -sama or _Sawada_ -sama, but Tsuna? "Does he need a security detail?"

"It doesn't need to go so far," though he is pretty sure Takeda _-san_ is more than just a housewife. "He has Irie- _san_ and Haru- _san_ most evenings, and the DC watches over elementary schools for bullying cases." He sighs, resisting the urge to cover his face with his hands. Tsuna's case is worse than normal and his constant requests to be taken out of community schooling had been reconsidered time and time again by Mamma _and_ grandfather. And, Hibari Kyouya, almighty sovereign of Namimori and its schools. "If it gets worse, though..."

"I understand," which means Gokudera will _also_ join the 'protect-Tsunayoshi' team along with Hibari- _sempai_ , Tetsu- _san_ and Takeshi. "Decimo, we will be late."

He curses. Gokudera is right, and between the scrambling students running to get to the gates in time, they dash at top speed to make it before Hibari- _sempai_ comes out. Besides, a member of the DC, getting to class late?

Unacceptable.

They are stopped near the school gates, sliding into a halt with Gokudera helping him hold his balance and Hide… Hide salutes, the usual salute the DC uses before Hibari- _sempai_. Arm crossed before his chest, fist to his shoulder, standing tall and straight and looking at the Demon into the eye.

“Sawada Hidetada. Gokudera Hayato,” the Demon, Hibari Kyouya, starts, tonfas held in his hands ready to attack. Kusakabe Tetsuya is standing behind him, a clipboard in his hand and an apologetic smile in his face. Hibari looks _furious_. “For the damage of Namimori property, the possession of explosive illegal material, and the disturbance of the decency of our school, you shall be bitten to death.”

There is a scattered crowd surrounding them, some fleeing to their classrooms and others lingering to hear the sentence (few, but brave. Or stupid). Hide can _feel_ one or two prefects trying to hide their laughters, much to Tetsu- _san_ ’s disappointment, and Gokudera seething besides him. In a quick move, he taps his fingers against the bomber’s hand, willing for him to _stop_ trying to assault the undeniable sovereign of the town.

“Detention.” Hibari says, face impassive like always. He rests his stance, putting the tonfa away in whatever hammerspace he carries his weapons (and paperwork, occasionally) around. And then, he is turning around and heading back into school, the first bell ringing into Hide’s ears like a chorus of angels.

“That wasn’t so bad,” a voice says from behind them, and both Hide and Gokudera turn to see Mochida Kensuke smirking at them. “First one, right? Try not to die.”

That’s all it takes for Hide to go white, feeling weak. _Detention_ , with _Hibari_. His first ever detention in seven years of schooling, and it is _given to him by his Committee chairman._ Not even when he had accidentally knocked out one of his fellow prefects had be been given _detention_. His record is clean, perfect- well, not really, he is pretty sure everyone has a criminal record for their _vigilante gang_ and the rare war with mini-groups trying to overthrow them, but-

He vaguely realizes Gokudera is pulling him to their classroom, vaguely notices Takeshi is nowhere to be seen before he slumps on his desk, all thoughts of school forgotten.

_Detention._

  
****

* * *

**014**

**Namimori**

Reborn has never seen a student more _dame_ than Dino, but Sawada Tsunayoshi is getting close. Though he is rather surprised at the change of attitude between this morning, then school, then lunch time. Disturbed, really, not that he hadn’t seen it before.

He is honestly worried about Tsunayoshi. Not just about his grades, his school life or social interactions, but about Tsunayoshi himself. And, he has been here less than a week. Hide is alright, he doesn’t need to focus on Hide unless it is to beat him half to death; Tsunayoshi, though, is another matter altogether.

Currently, Tsunayoshi is enjoying lunch with 'his reason to come to school', one Sasagawa Kyoko- _chan_ and her best friend, Kurokawa Hana. The girls are scolding him (probably about his undone homework), but he is laughing merrily and like Reborn has never seen him before. It is refreshing, seeing him enjoying life like a real child, like he seemed to today in the morning, when force-feeding Hidetada _tasteless scones_ and _bitter green tea_ (which Hide can't stand, unlike Reborn who just dislikes it), like a ten years old should.

While in class, Tsuna was lifeless. No, not lifeless, he was apathetic. His friends were in another class and everyone in _his_ class teased him mercilessly for his grades, lack of coordination, clumsiness and _freakiness_. The thing is, Tsunayoshi _did_ answer questions if asked, or at least half of them. thoroughly. Maybe he knows _too much_ about certain things, even. Maybe the _freakiness_ his classmates spoke about was that (knowing things but not showing it in grades, in a society where grades are everything and the measure of knowledge), but Reborn doesn't think it is that.

He hasn't missed the weirded out or even loathing looks from some of Tsuna's teachers. Still, they are all Japanese teachers and unwilling to give any information through the phone, even if it is from Iemitsu himself. He would have to ask Nana or Ietsuna- _sama._

Though it is slow, he does see how being bullied like this would dig into Tsuna's personality. Unlike what people believe, Reborn isn't heartless (he is just careful), and he doesn't like what he sees. Were it not for Sasagawa and Kurokawa, Tsunayoshi wouldn't have something to lean on in his daily life. Were it not for Hidetada, Tsunayoshi wouldn't have confidence in himself. Were it not for his family, Tsunayoshi would be unable to trust any adult in his life.

Adults seem to have disappointed Tsunayoshi and Hidetada time and time again, though. Everyone they trust is either extremely young or extremely old. Also, extremely strong. As if it is impossible to _not_ be strong in Namimori.

Or as if strong people _gather_ around the Sawadas.

There is peace-loving black belt Hidetada and natural-born hitman Takeshi. Then there is extreme-boxer Ryohei and Prefect dictator Hibari, who rules the whole of three or _four_ towns around Namimori. Now, Smoking Bomb Hayato has arrived and that makes five.

As for Tsuna, he has Kurokawa and Sasagawa, who may be small but can rise into something way more (he has seen how diligent Kyoko is in her training with her brother, and Hana has seen past disguises more often than not. The rare skill of common sense). Then his two babysitters, Irie Shouichi and Miura Haru who Reborn has met once and hasn't been able to evaluate, but Miura is another student of Kusakabe- _sensei_ and Irie... Irie is a mystery.

Then there was the mysterious Illusionist that had guarded Tsunayoshi’s book _and_ his room. Strong enough to make even Reborn himself have a hard time getting past the illusions, whoever is it would have to be either Viper-level or stronger. He wouldn’t put it past Viper, to make the Vongola heir owe them anything, but he would know if Viper was around. Which leaves him with nothing else, not even to ask Hide (who said of course there was something wrong with his little brother, and no, I don’t know what is wrong with his room).

There are three adults who have been mentoring the Sawadas since they were small, Sawada Nana (a _worldclass housewife_ , if Iemitsu can be believed; Reborn is still looking, which means there is something else), Sawada Ietsuna (an unknown), Kusakabe Chiyo ( _aikido_ teacher and assassination mentor to some long deceased CEDEF agents) and, apparently, everyone else related to old town Namimori. So far, he hasn’t found anyone who would fit the profile of a Mist user, except Sasagawa Kyoko who is… young.

He will crack this case someday soon. He can leave Hide on his own for a short while, right?

He is brought out of his musings by the bell. Lunch break is over and Tsuna and his friends are nowhere to be seen, so he jumps down and back to his previous hiding spot. Bringing out his binoculars, he readies himself for a long hour of watching.

* * *

 

**015**

**Yamamoto Takeshi**

Once upon a time, around three or four days ago, there was a baseball idiot. His name was Yamamoto Takeshi, ace of the baseball team of Namimori Middle School and best, useless friend of Vongola Decimo. He had good reflexes and even better hand-eye coordination, which made him perfect for the batter position, as well as something else.

This baseball idiot is sitting in front of a ruined house, one arm in a sling; a baseball bat leans on his side and a wooden sword ( _bokken_ , Hayato’s mind supplies) sits on his lap; his eyes are closed as he leans back on the ruins of the house, but his breath is too quick for him to be sleeping.

Decimo notices this as well, apparently, for he places his staff by his side and sits down a few meters from Yamamoto. Hayato kneels besides him, noiseless, his hands resting on his knees to stop himself from getting up again. This whole area of town makes him paranoid -Reborn agreed, so it isn’t only him- and he would rather be attentive for anything than let someone approach them.

Closeby, he sees Decimo’s _sensei_ sharing a cup of tea with a man with black, messy hair held back by a white cloth and wearing plain clothes. _Sensei_ is speaking happily with him, while the man grins and looks sheepish. Sitting to her other side, is Reborn, sipping at a paper cup with his eyes focused on the other side of the ruined town.

Hayato looks over. The woman he knows as Miura Haru (Decimo’s goddess, to not be offended or mistreated) is cleaning somethings, the girl sitting besides her drying them as they are dropped on her lap. He doesn’t recognize what they are, but he does recognize Tsunayoshi’s friend (Sasagawa, she gave him cake) and Tsunayoshi himself looking at the things with wondrous eyes.

“Hide.”

Hayato looks back at the baseball idiot, who is now looking at Decimo with narrowed eyes. Narrowed, yes, calculating maybe. Not dangerous, or angry, though his hand is closed around the _bokken_ ’s handle with expertise, though awkwardness. Decimo himself is gripping his staff, leaning forth with his free hand on the ground: ready to leap, at any case.

Hayato feels he should move from the tension, so he jumps back, already reaching for his dynamite. He feels a weight land on his head and relaxes his hands, and a quick sweep around the place tells him where everyone is. Tsunayoshi has stood up and is running to _sensei_ , closely followed by Miura and Sasagawa who are laughing. _Sensei_ and the man are still sitting, but the man holds his hands up as if giving a signal.

He drops his hands too fast for him to see and, at the first sound of wood against wood, Hayato is turning towards Decimo and the baseball idiot, who are locked in an awkward, single-handed block. He realizes he had never noticed how _short_ his Boss is, compared to Yamamoto, compared to Hayato himself, as Decimo is forced to bend by the strength behind the sword.

“I was wondering about that,” Reborn says, tugging at Hayato’s hair, and he takes a few steps back to get away from the slowly growing battle field. The two of them exchange blows, blocks and parries, and it is completely _graceless_ . “ _Baka_ -Hide seemed too used to his fighting style for it to have been contained indoors.”

Hayato nods to himself. He had seen Decimo’s fighting style, built around blocks and sweeps, incapacitating and hiding. It was nowhere like now, when both Decimo and Yamamoto seemed to be fighting (still with a single hand each) just to annoy the other, their movements almost mirrors of each other had Decimo’s weapon been shorter.

Through their ‘detention’ the other day, Hibari Kyouya had chased them around town to beat them up, and Decimo had shown an amazing skill at running and hiding. After a couple of really angry words, Hayato himself had put away his dynamites, instead carrying around a pipe just in case he needed it. If Hibari Kyouya ever got too close, Decimo himself stepped back to fight him, making use of his staff as a distraction, weapon and leverage. Hours they were running with a single objective in mind: home, and Hayato only fought if they were cornered. The amazing thing was, the staff only gave up on the final battle, the sun already down and Reborn timing their arrival home; it had cracked in two after a block, giving Decimo two weapons he couldn’t use and backing himself into a corner.

It had been at that moment that Tsunayoshi had appeared, looking bored and telling them it _was time for dinner, will Hayato-_ san _be staying?_ Hibari Kyouya had nodded in greetings (to Tsunayoshi, of all people) and left the scene.

And now Yamamoto Takeshi also challenged him to a fight, leaving Hayato to wonder what is up with all these people. Do they like fighting or do they just enjoy the feeling of controlling people, like Hibari Kyouya? Hayato wouldn’t really understand, he is a ranged, mid-ranged fighter; the thoughts of close-range fighters leave him confused and… Well, Hayato’s resistance to direct hits was lower than people believed. Burns he can deal with, smoke, even guns are easier to deal with than a direct hit with a blunt object.

He watches the fight for what seems like hours, Reborn narrating and pointing out key moments to him. He hears Tsunayoshi commenting on Yamamoto’s skill, and hears Hibari Kyoya's voice scattering the crowders.

Finally time freezes when Yamamoto slams the hilt of his sword up near Decimo’s hold on his staff. The staff seems to fly in slow motion and he feels Reborn extend a tiny hand to grab it as it flies through, and Decimo falls back panting, leaving Yamamoto to grin and laugh.

...He needs a moment.

How can he protect Decimo if he is _so weak_?

* * *

 

**016**

**Sasagawa Kyoko**

Kyoko sits next to Tsuna and before Hana, with Irie Shouichi sitting at the head of the table holding a textbook in one hand and his other arm wrapped around his stomach. They are currently working on their social studies homework, with aid from Hana and Irie- _san_ who was around taking care of Tsuna.

Upstairs, the loud sounds which seem to be explosions and yells continue. She vaguely identifies Gokudera Hayato, Hide _-nii’_ s new friend, yelling something about baseballs and morons. The other voice is probably Hide himself, trying to calm him down.

She smiles, ignoring the blush rising to her cheeks. Hana often annoyed her about her _puppy crush on her best friend’s brother,_ but well, she can’t do anything about it. Hide- _nii_ is cute, strong and keeps _Onii-san_ out of trouble. Also, what better way to strengthen her bond to Tsuna than becoming his sister?

“ _When I grow up, I’m going to marry Hide-_ nii _!”_ She had said, that day with her holding on to Hide’s wrist and Ryohei looking at her with a bright smile. By that time, she had already learned to ignore the countless of corpses Hide and the Disciplinary Committee left on their path. It was an everyday sight, but Ryohei being cornered and looking afraid, though determined, was not.

She had been walking along with Tsuna, still a little disorientated after her last black out, when they had heard the shouts. Running to them, they found themselves before Ryohei being slammed against a wall, a group of upperclassmen yelling at him. Besides Ryohei, curled up on himself, there had been a ginger haired boy with glasses struggling to gather his books.

Neither Tsuna or Kyoko were fighters; Hana wasn’t either, though she spoke daggers with her words, but she wasn’t there. They had found themselves in front of a bullying case, with none of them knowing what to do and no red armband and black jacket in sight. They didn’t know what to do besides jump into the battle and hope things worked out. And so they did that.

One of the older boys had kicked at Tsuna, making him fly towards the redhead. another one had grabbed Kyoko by her collar and was saying something to Ryohei, who looked white and ready to cry.

Then salvation had fallen from the sky, in the shape of a flash of tonfa and the stab of a long stick. They had _literally_ appeared from nowhere, though Hide later told them Hibari- _san_ had been patrolling around the roofs and he had swung from a clothesline, but once they were there it didn’t take long until all the bullies were beaten and knocked unconscious. Most of the work, of course, was Hibari’s, who nodded at them quietly before flying off, but Hide had had his hand on the event with stabbing a few faces.

“ _EXTREME SAWADA! YOU ARE EXTREME!”_ Her brother had yelled, slapping Hide’s back. Tsuna helped the ginger boy up, hugging him when it seemed he wouldn’t stop stammering and Kyoko…

Kyoko had felt her whole word change under her, as if for the first time she realized that her _best friend’s brother_ was one of the people who kept the peace of Namimori and the streets bullying-free.

She sighs at the memories, finishing her homework with a flourish. Tsuna has already given up and is playing with his pencil, while Hana checks her answers with the textbook. The yelling continues upstairs, and Irie- _san_ still looks like he would rather be elsewhere.

A normal day.

* * *

**017**

**Ten-years later /**

**Lambo**

Sleep. Beautiful, nice sleep… Quiet, peaceful sleep, just like quiet, peaceful Namimori. No loudness, no annoyances, no-

“ **DIE, REBORN!** ”

...Of course it was too good to be true. Tsuna sits up, rubbing his eyes as Daemon cracks open the door, just enough for Tsuna to see what’s happening in the hallway and the room across from his. He doesn’t see anything, besides Hide and Reborn sitting at the low table and the remnants of an explosion--

The doorbell rings and Daemon pays half a mind to pull back as Tsuna gets up, stumbling to the hallways and poking his head past the door. He waits a couple of minutes, hearing the quick steps coming up and sees Mamma’s head appearing in the stairs.

“Tsu- _kun,_ you are up!” She cheers, clapping her hands at seeing him. Behind her legs there is a… cow child, dressed in a cow printed onesie, his hair a messy afro and eyes wide and tearful. “This is Lambo, a friend of Reborn’s-”

He should have stayed in bed.

Lambo runs into Hide’s room, loudly introducing himself (‘I AM LAMBO, FIVE YEARS OLD, MY FAVORITE FOOD IS GRAPES AND CANDY!’) as Tsuna nods to his mother, saying he will be down for lunch when it is done. She nods, happily, and skips back downstairs, leaving Tsuna alone with his mind guest to stare at what was happening inside the other room.

He wants to ask where did his normal, peaceful life go, but he knows he never had a normal life. Ghosts and everything else that surrounded him, Kyoko and even Hide; Daemon isn’t even the weirdest thing he has seen. Byakuran might be, what with his _dragons_ , and perhaps the old man from the migrating shop as well. Reborn is close to go up to the top place, along with this new child -Lambo, his name is.

He wants to close the door when suddenly, Lambo is flung towards him with the strength of an Annoyed Reborn. He huffs and steps back, his arms wrapped around the child as he falls on his back, staring at the ceiling and wondering where did his peace go.

Daemon laughs into his head.

Lambo is crying and it is an ugly, loud wail that makes his headache worse than Hide's ramblings or Daemon's lessons on safe corpse disposal. Still, Tsuna has always liked children, so he reaches to pat the boy’s head with care and love-- but Lambo is pulling out a bazooka (a bazooka, a _big, pink bazooka_ ) from his hair and aiming at himself.

He is distantly aware of Hide shouting and Reborn smirking, his connection to Daemon tugging at him until it _snaps_ as he is surrounded by pink smoke.

**\--**

_empty_ it is _empty_ it _**hurts**_ _it feels wrong it_ where is _Tsunayoshi why_ is he not here where _is my_ host _where is my student my_ _ **Tsunayoshi**_ _where is why is TSUNAYOSHI_ _ **WHERE IS MY STUDENT**_

**\--**

Hide can only stare in fear at the pink smoke. Both his brother and Lambo have vanished, nowhere to be seen; both his brother and Lambo aren’t where they should be.

As the smoke fades, he sees something. A single shape, standing, an arm on its head and pulling at what he assumes is hair. The shape becomes a person, a tall, gangly teenager with black, curly hair, wearing a cow print shirt and dress pants under a lab coat. He is covered in red, red stains on his coat and dripping to the ground, ugly red droplets sticking to his hair; his gloved hand holds a gun, finger on the trigger.

The teenager takes a few seconds to notice them, hand trembling around his gun, but when he does he whips his arm to point at them. It takes him another second to realize who they are, narrowed eyes brightening suddenly, the shadow of _despair_ vanishing to the background to leave only _pain_. His arm goes slack, weak, and the gun falls to the ground along with his knees with a loud sound.

"Goodness," the teen whispers, his ungloved hand pressed to his face, as if attempting to hide something. There is a ring in his hand, with a glowing green stone that seems to spark with lightning.

“You must be Lambo,” says Reborn, usually chirpy voice somber. “From ten years later.”

The teenager nods, quietly, eyes staring blankly at Hide's feet. He looks like a statue, or a corpse: pale, sight unfocused and unmoving. He is so _white_ Hide believes his blood may be the one spilling on Tsuna's floor, but the teenager -Lambo, who likes grapes and candy and was sent here to _kill Reborn_ \- doesn't seem to be injured. There is only a few pieces of dirty porcelain (or what he assumed is porcelain) sticking to his clothes, making him look even more ragged than he should.

Hide takes a step, then two and falls to his knees,

He feels Reborn’s confusion besides him as his small feet take him next to Hide. He hears him ask a question, but doesn’t raise his head until Lambo answers.

“My past self should be okay," he says, reaching to take his gun, but Hide is faster. He doesn't want a shocked, bloody teenager holding a gun in his presence ( _unauthorized weaponry, improper corpse disposal protocol_ ). The gun is heavy and warm in his hands. "There were a few others."

“He will last five minutes.” Reborn sounds so sure, and Lambo nods and sighs. It takes Hide a second to realize they are talking about child Lambo, stuck in the mess his _future self_ should have been in.

He hears Lambo and Reborn speaking, something about time and time paradoxes, and a bazooka, but can’t make any sense of it all as Tsuna is still _gone_. Gone, somewhere he doesn't know, from a room that is starting to _reek_ of copper and death, when it should only smell of sunflowers and orchids, when there should be Tsuna yelling at him for _daring_ to step into his room, for _daring_ to injure a child. _Gone_ , along with the sourceless breeze that always comes from his room, replaced by a mess of _anger pain confusion_ _ **anger**_ struggling to stay in the room.

He thought he would be able to keep Reborn's world away from his _home,_ like he has been doing with Hibari and his vigilante gang, at the very least. He can't any longer. There is a teenager taken off a battlefield standing in his little brother's room and the blood dripping down Lambo's assumed white coat will stain the floor. Tsuna will _kill_ him (he ignores the traitorous whisper in his head that claims Tsuna _may not be alive_ ).

It feels like an eternity of silence and _fear_ until Lambo clicks his tongue, saying the five minutes are almost up ('Hide-nii shouldn't worry so much, Tsuna will be-'), and then the pink smoke is there again. A cloud of pink smoke that hides more than it should, that does more than it could and Hide wonders if the pink colour comes from the blood the thing has spilled through the ages.

He hears crying, from Lambo, who runs off the smoke cloud and to Hide’s legs, his onesie stained with droplets of red. He is dirty, fat tears rolling down his face and hands trembling around a grenade. There is a loud _thud_ of something falling and a sound of pain he recognizes as his _little brother_ , and he doesn't wait for the smoke to clear to run to Tsuna.

Hide wraps his arms around Tsuna, too tight and probably hurting ( _confusion confusion drowsiness)_. His baby brother, _his_ baby brother, who is rubbing at his eyes and saying he had _the weirdest dream, ever_ , while Lambo ( _fear fear fear_ ) snugs up to him as quiet as he will ever be. The pink bazooka has rolled to a side, the gun from the future sits on the ground and the blood from unknown people is seeping into the wood.

Reborn bans the bazooka unless it is an emergency. Lambo agrees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Saturday! And thanks for all the kudos (:  
> Unfortunately for Yamamoto, I was in a bad mood to write about suicide, so I couldn't do it. I am sorry if you wanted to read about Yamamoto's emo days.
> 
> You know, all I want is to hurry up and get to the Future Arc so I can start fucking up everything? But, but, I don't have any idea of who Tsuna's Rain Arcobaleno will be. Any ideas? (besides Squalo)  
> I should stop looking so far into the future.


	4. mid-arc interlude: daily life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't close the 3rd chapter as I wanted to, so I am not posting it. Instead, have some interludes: Lambo's trip to the future and Takeshi's mother's ramblings.  
> Featuring: mysterious characters FROM THE FUTURE!, mysterious characters FROM THE PAST! and a failure of an author. I wanted to add _ryuu_ but I gave up on it.

**Lightning interlude**

**the Cloudy future**

The pink cloud vanishes around him. His arms close around the nonexistent bazooka, making him lose balance and fall to the floor, chubby hands landing palm-first on a wet, sticky, hot substance.

 _Red_.

He smells iron and ozone, a mix of scents that makes him dizzy. Both familiar, yet both unwanted. He doesn't want to go back to iron and ozone, away from grapes and sweets and the warm, warm, flowery scent of his mother.

_Red. Red. Redgreenred._

"Child Lambo?"

A voice comes from in front of him. Wary, with a hint of sympathy and care, a shade of strictness and _tender, so very tender_. The voice is close, too close and through blurry eyes he can see a pair of bare knees and smooth legs sinking into the _red_ he is laying on. His face (tear and snot covered, disgusting, childish) is lifted by thin, long fingers to look at the woman with a loving voice.

He notices she has no face. Her face is a white, plain oval with with a crown of reddish, messy hair and a pair of blue gems hanging from below her ears. Under the light (or lack of), she looks like an angel.

"Look at yourself," she says, putting down the box in her hands next to her legs. Her jacket is full of pockets, and after patting through them for a couple seconds, she brings out a handkerchief which she uses to wipe his tears.

Lambo still wants to cry, but this faceless woman is warm and caring and _smells like his mother_ , and she is pulling him into her lap and cradling him close. She isn't safe, but she isn't scary either; between this woman and his father, his father is many times scarier. He clutches at her, sobbing, and she shushes him softly while rocking him back and forth.

Even in this dark room, surrounded by _red_ and unmoving shapes, she is a steady comfort.

And then, there is the click of a gun.

"Let go of Lambo, woman."

The woman stiffens (it is subtle, but Lambo grew up with a mother who taught him that a half millimeter in a posture change could save his life), already reaching for the box next to her. She is standing, Lambo still clinging to her and sniffing, and the man behind them gives a single step forwards and the room comes alight. It takes three for Lambo to assess the room.

It is _bright_ and _red_ and _white_. Unmoving black shapes are thrown on the ground, pools of _red_ around them and shattered fragments of _white_ littered around them. There are papers and green folders thrown around and a big, metallic desk and three _huge_ _green_ pillars crackling with energy standing atop it.

The woman turns around and Lambo's sight blurs again. He curls up against her chest, whimpering ( _greenredgreen and pain and his mother screaming somewhere_ -).

"Kensuke- _san_ , how delightful." The woman now sounds like an angry cat, a hiss coming from her hand (the box? Is the box hissing?). "I wasn't expecting this."

"Kyo-"

The man is interrupted by a sharp _crack_ as Lambo is thrown aside. He bounces harmlessly against the wall and rolls around in the bubble that protected him to get behind the desk (even though there is _green_ , at least there is no _red_ behind the desk and no unmoving shapes). The bubble bounces, almost happily, and Lambo notices it is leaving something glittery behind it.

From under the desk, he peeks out. His inner clock tells him the five minutes are almost up and, maybe, maybe he can help the woman who comforted him before. He takes out a grenade.

A dozen glittery balls are scattered around the faceless woman, rolling around the floor and leaving behind a trail of _something_ _shiny_. There are also a pair of iridescent _kittens_ hanging from her shoulders, hissing dangerously at the man, and Lambo has never seen something so adorable in his life.

The man is holding a huge sword that is almost as long as the man himself. He had a gun before, well he doesn't now -did the gun turn into a sword? He is a completely average man with nothing that makes him different from anything else.

And then it starts.

The woman is fast, but the man has range. Lambo himself would never be able to evade one sweep of that _thing_. The glittery balls keep getting kicked away by the woman and the kittens, bouncing against the walls and desk and (he assumes) the pillars above the desk (when they bounce back with green lightning coating them, they _dash_ away, pulling some with them, and it is great). The sword makes dents everywhere, and then those dents get bigger and bigger and-

The sword _grazes_ the desk and it shatters, making Lambo run out from under it. Whatever that sword is made of, it is heavy and Lambo doesn't want to touch it.

 _Green_ floods the room as the green pillars break. Ozone. Static. A numbing, roaring _crash_ that sends him stumbling to hide, to cover his ears, tripping on an unmoving black shape and falling on _red red sticky red iron ozone screaming pain_ -

_pink_

* * *

It takes him a few minutes to realize he is back in his time.

* * *

**Rain interlude**

**Sunshower**

Children. Children were fun to teach, to shape, to raise. She loved children with all her might, ever since she was one and her little sister was hers to care for, ever since she grew up and began training as a teacher, ever since she married and-

Hotaru loved children, but she couldn't have her own.

 _So many tears_ , she thought, sitting in the hospital. _So many tears and no way to wipe them away_.

Tsuyoshi sat besides her, looking lost. The doctor's report was crumpled in his hand and he didn't know what to do (she could tell, she could always tell, she worked with children).

 _My old life I give for you_ , he had said back then, putting his sword away and holding her hand in his own. _For our family, I will shed no more blood_.

It made _no sense._

* * *

She was small. Thin, slender, young. Pale and sickly. _Asari Kou_ , she said was her name _, but you may call me Kou._

Tsuyoshi had no love lost for her. He claimed she was a ghost, a shade from a past long lost. Claimed she should be dead, like her family and the sword she held.

 _I am a soulless body,_ she said, hanging her short, short sword along with Tsuyoshi's. _I would offer this dead body for your family, if you will have me._

Hotaru did.

Hotaru would have her.

* * *

The child was small, with Tsuyoshi's black hair and pale eyes. They said he wouldn't live long, like his _mother_ , but Hotaru didn't care. He was beautiful, a beautiful baby boy, and she would give her life if it meant he would live longer than he could.

_She had a child._

_His name is Takeshi_ , she told Kou's weak form, holding her hand tightly. Kou was smiling, her lashes shuddering under the strain of staying awake ( _alive_ ), and Hotaru wanted her to at least lay eyes on _her_ child before she passed on.

 _Takeshi_ , Kou said with her last breath, her blue, blue eyes closing for one last time.

 _What a beautiful name_.

* * *

Tsuyoshi loved Takeshi. Hotaru loved Takeshi. Both of them were great parents, like they were meant to be. A retired assassin and a struggling mother; a sushi chef and a grade school teacher.

Takeshi was quite calm; he liked to watch children walk by instead of join them. He liked to sit in the water instead of playing with a ball. He liked to watch replays of martial arts tournaments and sports matches instead of cartoons.

He had two friends he talked to everyday and seemed to find joy in breaking up fights.

Takeshi grew up and took the sword.

Tsuyoshi cringed every time he saw Takeshi training with a _wakizashi_ instead of an _odachi_.

* * *

_Kou_ , the lone grave read, a simple urn with a small stone marker. There was nothing around it, like it wasn't meant to exist: the other graves stood far away in the distance, as if they didn't want to be around it. The patch of blue flowers surrounding it, though, seemed to be bigger and bigger by each passing day.

Takeshi stood in front of it, holding Tsuyoshi's hand as Hotaru arranged the sunflowers in front of Kou. _Who is she_ , he asked. _Why is she important_ , he wondered. Tsuyoshi never answered, and Hotaru didn't feel strong enough for it.

 _I need you_ , she said, holding Tsuyoshi's hand. _I need you to tell him_ , she claimed, with her eyes full of tears. Time and time again, she had found herself unable to tell her son _who_ his biological mother was.

 _Useless_ , she thought. _Coward._

* * *

_It is the same_ , the doctors said after examining Takeshi's weak, unconscious body.

He had fainted after practice, falling and hitting his head. Hotaru had rushed to her son while Nana- _san_ (a darling, a gift of the world) dialed an ambulance; Sawada Hidetada sat crying next to Takeshi, bawling he was sorry, it wasn't his fault.

 _No major damage_ , they said, _but we would like to do some further tests. His mother had weak defenses and it may have been inherited,_ they said, and Hotaru wanted nothing but to go back home with her child and her husband.

Tsuyoshi looked grim through the day and the following week.

* * *

A month later, as Hotaru was giving up on her son ever waking up again, Tsuyoshi arrived with an aged, wrinkled woman followed by a bored-looking young man. They brought in briefcases and vials of liquids to place them close to Takeshi's bed, all while the woman spoke to Hotaru in a calming, soothing tone.

 _My name_ , the woman said, _is Ines Ortega. This is Shamal, he is here as my assistant. We deal with cases of bound and unreleased energy reserves, like your son's- ah, his systems are slowed down, that's why he doesn't wake, Shamal, get- yes, that one, good boy._

 _It probably comes from the old lines, they always had problems externalizing their Flames_ , the woman continued speaking, shooing Tsuyoshi from the room and making her sit next to Takeshi. _You will have to deal with a slightly hyperactive son from now on, so make sure to keep him busy; he will also get into trouble at times, but I am sure you didn't marry Tsuyoshi because of his looks-_

There were two stones under Takeshi's hands, glowing blue, blue like Kou's eyes and Tsuyoshi's blade in the light, and Hotaru felt she was seeing something she should not be allowed to see as the stones burst into blue, watery flames. _This is normal_ , she kept telling herself, but by each passing second the sense of _wrongness_ kept invading her mind.

* * *

Takeshi was safe.

Takeshi picked up baseball. Takeshi was _never_ tired, and constantly smiling. He kept a constant air of freedom and tranquility that Tsuyoshi claimed was his very nature.

Takeshi was safe.

But Hotaru was not.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Sunshower_ was written while I tried to explain to myself what happens when strong flame users can't use them in any way. So, I ended up killing them by making their flames work against them. The Asari family got distanced from the mafia, so they forgot how to use flames, which lead them to slowly die out. Sorry.
> 
>  _The cloudy future_ 's mysterious woman (hah, as if) wears a mask. Why? Because reasons, but mostly the Millefiore is lead by Byakuran, c'mon. Her weapon is also pretty much the most random thing ever because I gave up thinking about it. Mochida wields a kamaitachi sword, by propagation. I give up.  
> Also, please give me ideas for Tsuna's rain arcobaleno. Because I can't use Squalo and I have no idea who else we have. Basil? Spanner?  
> You guys are all great and I love you. Thank you for reading!


	5. nation and blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real chapter 3, now with more information. Quality descriptions are true quality.  
> Featuring: a Skylark, a Scorpion, a Boxer and a pervert. Skullitis last two whole hours for plot's sake. Also, Namimori. Welcome to Namimori.

**018**

**Hibari Kyoya**

At 5 AM everyday except weekends, Hibari Kyoya gets up.

He has grown to his habit and plans to die with it, ever since his mother started teaching him how to wield weapons, ever since his father began showing him the purpose of being a Hibari. Through ten years of his life, this routine hasn't changed, nor has his unusual like for taking naps every couple hours. He has to make sure his early hours don't get in the way of his life, of course.

His Committee, all four branches, have learned the hard way to start working as soon as possible. Most of them, except the children, will show up near his door or at the bottom of the staircase to old town, an hour and a half before class starts. All of them will blatantly deny to be crowding while Kusakabe Tetsuya gives them the daily schedule (thank the Sky for his second-in-command), and Kyoya will beat up any herbivore who dares linger for longer than they should.

It is in one such daily meeting that he sees _him_.

Kyoya isn't one to respect people at random. They must earn their right to stand in his presence, after all; so far, he has given such rights to few members of his Committee and some other pseudo-carnivores in his life. His parents are true carnivores, as well as the elder Kusakabe, and then there is his mother's side of the family who Kyoya wouldn't approach unless hiding spare tonfa and maybe a knife.

Sawada Hidetada is one growing pseudo-carnivore, while his baby animal brother is something not quite there (but not quite anything, either). He has begrudgingly come to accept Yamamoto Takeshi as a pseudo-carnivore since the boy was six and beating people left and right with a _shinai_ , but he would never word such respect in public. Gokudera Hayato _might_ come to be one, as well, but his herbivorous skills leave much to be desired. Kyoya has never accepted ranger fighters.

He noticed the other one close to his (favorite) baby animal and the boy's brother a while ago, just sitting there with his fedora and glowing pacifier. A true carnivore worthy of recognition, just like _that man_ who dares visit once every few months and take over the house. Kyoya wouldn't challenge either of them unless pressed to, he isn't quite suicidal just yet, but he does want to test himself against the _strongest babies_ in the world one day.

Maybe Sawada Hidetada will give him the chance, soon.

He decides to follow his _crowding_ soldier through the roofs after class, presence disguised and ready for a fight. Yamamoto Takeshi is laughing, an arm thrown over the bombing herbivore, while Sawada Hidetada and his baby shadow walk closely behind. He would approach them and beat them for _crowding_ , and daring to break Sawada's own, self imposed rule of never bringing _friends_ to his Disciplinary duties, but the baby is leaking a killing range that Kyoya doesn't dare breach. Again, not suicidal.

"What is Hibari- _san_ doing?"

The voice comes out of nowhere, or perhaps out of somewhere expected had he been paying more attention. Sawada Tsunayoshi is sitting on the roof of the house which fake chimney Kyoya was using as a perch; he is holding a glowing sphere in his hand, turning it around with his fingers. Like always, he looks completely uncaring of everything around him, eyes dull but back straight and ready to bolt at any second notice.

Kyoya takes a second to look around the neighbourhood, recognizing the Boxing Club's president's house easily. A normal, average house with a front yard garden and various training tools in the back yard. Elementary School student Sasagawa Kyoko's house, then, which explains why Tsunayoshi is calmly sitting on the roof above the windowsill cloud watching.

Not.

"Baby herbivore," he nods to the boy, who nods back in greeting. He doesn't miss the second-long annoyed glint in his eyes. "Loitering outdoors without adult supervision goes against Namimori Elementary's Rules and Safety Guidelines. Please go back indoors or risk disciplinary actions."

"So Hana tells me," he drawls, knocking his knuckles against the window below him. His eyes seem to glow, as they always do when around Kyoya or anyone classified above 'moderately dangerous'. Then, he is grinning, looking at Kyoya with all the possible cheer he can show. "But, well, Mamma doesn't seem to care, nor does Hide- _nii_."

"Kurokawa Hana is attending to her duties as a member of the Disciplinary Committee." Kyoya finds himself _surprisingly_ proud of the child she-herbivore (though she does mostly desk work, which is what all the few females in the Committee do), and at the same time, highly disappointed on his Middle School officer. "Sawada Nana and Hidetada should pay better attention to the safety guidelines of Namimori. Head inside, baby herbivore."

"Yessir." And just like that, Tsunayoshi throws open the window and hops inside. There is loud complaining from the voice he recognizes, vaguely, as Kurokawa's, and then Sasagawa Kyoko's head is poking out of the window and smiling up at him.

"Good evening, Hibari- _sempai_."

He is already on the next roof when the window snaps closed. His instincts tell him his prey is far enough for nosy housewives to ignore the screams, so he better hurry. He has a pseudo-carnivore to hunt and bite to death for ignoring the safety guidelines and endangering fluffy small animals, after all.

Curse his weakness for small animals.

* * *

**019**

**Poison Mistress**

"I swear, I _was_ targeted! Help me!"

Reborn watches in amusement, Gokudera Hayato sitting besides him with a plate of treats on his knee. He is clearly distressed, but quietly not interrupting the talk between Hidetada and Nana. Lambo Bovino is also in the room, sitting by the table and slowly eating a bowl of poached pears, while Tsunayoshi scribbles away at his homework- or scribbled, as he is now looking at Hide and chuckling.

"Hide- _kun_ needs to learn to deal with girls on his own!" And there it is, the source of all the problems and amusing discussions derived from them. "Mamma will not always be here to hold your hand and tell you who you can play with."

"That's not even- Mamma! Why- Tsuna!" Hide snaps around from his place kneeling by his mother, throwing his phone at Tsunayoshi. The device goes through the open window, making Tsunayoshi laugh even harder. "Why is this _happening_ to me!?"

As Hidetada sulks and stomps outside to recover his phone, Reborn thinks back on today. So far a great day, what with Reborn receiving a reply from Shamal about his future flight to Japan and getting Gokudera to stop fighting with Lambo. He had also made a small advance with Nana's background research, which had him _thrilled_ , but what had him borderline happy was Bianchi's arrival to Namimori.

It was this morning, when Hide was walking to school along with Yamamoto, that they met the _mysterious_ red-headed woman in a bike that offered them drinks. Yamamoto was oblivious, but Hide had, apparently, sensed something odd so they had thrown them away after the woman was gone. No further problems arose in the trip to school, asides from Hibari Kyoya's bloodlust aimed at them.

At lunch, Hide's _love-filled bento_ made by _Tsuna's godly hands_ had been switched by... something. Reborn (who now made trips back and forth between middle and elementary schools through the day) had recognized it, as had Gokudera who ruined all plans by throwing it away in an _accident_.

There had been a package of worm-filled cookies in Hide's shoebox later, which he had promptly thrown away (much to the anger of his female classmates, who believed him to be insensitive). During patrol, twice had he been offered clean, not rotting or foul smelling food, only for it to be exchanged seconds later by terrifying writhing mess of... something.

Thus Hide had come to ask his mother for help at finding the culprit, though his wording was not what Reborn would have used. 'Mamma, I am being stalked by a food obsessed psycho!', which made Mamma assume he was having problems with girls. Tsuna, of course, was being absolutely no help by being _fine with letting someone else make your lunch, that's okay, I'll just cook for Mamma, Lambo and I!_

Reborn had never seen Hide cry at his little brother so much.

A loud scream comes from outside, which makes Gokudera stand on alert and defensive in record time. Tsuna grabs Lambo's hand and drags him behind Mamma, who holds her iron up like a shield. And, well, Reborn wouldn't be a good tutor if he let his student die, so he jumps on the coffee table at the same time Hide steps in from the window and proceeds to _try_ to close the window.

There is purple goo melting the lock, glass and part of the wall, with Bianchi in her pizza delivery girl disguise being impassive as she throws open the window again.

"Vongola Decimo, you are a surprisingly _rude_ person," she says, sounding sad and disappointed. The pizza boxes in her hand are thrown so she can hold one in each hand, with the third one falling open on the table and melting it as well (Reborn jumps out of the way before the acid can touch his shoes. Expensive shoes, Bianchi). "Shall I get rid of you for your _impudence_?"

Gokudera faints, Hide grabs the closest long stick in his reach (it is a lamp, fortunately) and Bianchi looks like the devil.

"My, are you Hide- _kun_ 's girlfriend?" Nana is smiling and Reborn takes notice of her stance. She is ready to sprint at any second, her free arm protectively guarding the stairs (where Tsuna is peeking from, eyes wide and terrified).

"No, Ma'am, but I _am_ here to teach him manners. He has rejected my gifts all day." She throws one of the boxes over at Gokudera's feet (Reborn guesses she can't see his face from her angle).

"Then continue! I will take the children upstairs, have fun dears!" And she _bows_ after she puts the iron down, then shoos the children up.

And then, there were two (three, counting Reborn, but he won't count himself. He will stay neutral through this battle, unless to shoot bullets). Hidetada has moved a little to guard Gokudera's body and keep an eye on the open door. Bianchi herself is opening the pizza box and taking out a piece of poison cooking (disgusting and terrifying goo), reading herself to throw it at her target.

Something clatters in the kitchen and, like a western movie, they attack each other in perfect synchronization.

Reborn wonders if they will do a double Knock Out.

(They do.)

* * *

**020**

**Anniversary**

It has been a month since Reborn arrived their lives and Hide feels himself slowly dying by each passing day. Ever since the spawn from hell (the second, as the first one is Tsuna) started living in their house, their peaceful, quiet, normal life was reduced to a senseless party of quirky characters and loud events.

When he had tried to complain about his normal life being over, Bianchi had looked at him with the oddest expression before she started laughing. She, ever since taking over the farthest room in the first floor hallway, had been overseeing Reborn's general knowledge and world culture lessons (which were mostly slow reviews over Western history with added underworld and 'conspiracy' events. If he has to hear once more about the perdurance of the Illuminati, he will snap at the Gokudera siblings), and from that moment she had focused on 'average human settlement societies'.

Okay, so _maybe_ Namimori wasn't normal. So maybe, most towns and cities weren't ruled by a whole family of vigilante-like sovereigns. So maybe, visitors to other towns didn't get extensive background checks before being allowed to stay more than a week. So maybe, most cities didn't have all-out wars with other cities who tried to purchase land close to their borders (why did they even _have_ clear drawn borders?). So maybe, other cities didn't have miniature governments completely disassociated from the country (what do you mean by taxes? Paid to the who? What? _Not_ to the Hibari family?).

Bianchi referred to the whole of the Namimori-surroundings as a _micronation_. Hibari- _sempai_ had overheard. They were _done_ for.

Bianchi, together with Reborn and at times Gokudera, had worked hard to open Hide's eyes to the reality of the outside world. Which was hard, as Hide had never been outside of Namimori. Surprising, as his whole _family_ was made of foreigners and halfs, which meant that at some point they _would_ have to had travelled somewhere, yet they came back to their deaths. Also, he had never _heard_ of anyone born in Namimori moving permanently away from Namimori. If he thought about it properly, it was eerie.

He had been to Midori (which was really just a huge educational district that officially was part of Namimori), and once or twice to Kokuyo (which Hibari- _sempai_ denied existed. Hide didn't dig deeper). He had also gone to the nameless seaside town (Namimori Port, in maps). Tsuna, the darling, had managed to go as far as two towns _away_ from Namimori, but he rarely stayed there for too long.

And so, he had understood that okay, yeah, Namimori was anything _but_ normal. It seemed normal and Japanese, but it was disconnected from Japan and more than a fifth of the population was purely foreign. _Freaky_.

When he asked Grandfather about it, he had laughed at him and gone _on and on_ , again, about the beautiful story of Namimori (not Japan, Namimori) and how the brave citizens had defended guests from death and the land from the usurpers. About the greatness of the Hibari and the Sawada with fire in his eyes and the cheery man who defended the seas and the old, old couple with their misty rings and gates to hell.

He had then asked Tsuna to fly him to the sky and passed out.

Both Hide and Tsuna had probably learned more about their family than they would ever _want_ or _need_ to know, in this past month of Reborn. Mostly Hide, as Tsuna had become more withdrawn than usual with the arrival of Lambo and Bianchi. The pair of sudden strangers living in the same house had distressed Tsuna so much he rarely spoke, or ate with them at the kitchen.

Reborn had _tried_ to get Tsuna to talk to them, but his baby brother seemed to be scared of him enough to not utter a word (with a good reason. Reborn is the devil). He would still talk with Irie, Kyoko and Hana (and through the phone a few hours every couple of days), which meant he was, at least, speaking and not gone selectively mute. Hide didn't miss the flinches and missing bandages from the first aid kit, though.

Mamma was livelier, having another child to spoil and someone closer to her age to speak to. Not _that_ close, but Bianchi understood family and love like no one else (but, she couldn't cook anything safe, which was painful when the women bonded over the kitchen). Hide still remembers the _one_ day he got home _too_ late, only to find Mamma and Bianchi playing some card game with shots of gin mixes and loudly complaining about Eastern fashion (apparently, Papa had missed their anniversary again, so Mamma had turned it into a girls' night).

The Committee, and by association, school, was still the same as always. School was boring: he kept average grades and average not-friends (and Takeshi), spent an average number of hours at campus and about triple of that at club matters. Hibari- _sempai_ had changed his patrolling route as incentive against crowding, so now he took longer to get home. That, along with Reborn's whatever-I-want-I-get attitude had Hide (and Gokudera) busy most school days and dead tired at night.

No matter how busy Reborn made him, he still didn't consider dropping the Committee, but he asked _sensei_ if he could change his lesson days. She had scolded him in her infuriating, passive-aggressive way and denied his request... Until, Haru came to ask, which made her set up weekend lessons in a clear show of favoritism and disregard for family tradition.

Haru had finally joined a dozen crafts clubs at school and vanished from his life until the weekends, as expected from their first year of middle school. It took longer than they expected. He _didn't_ go out of his way to see her and _didn't_ run past her door just as she was leaving everyday. It was all coincidence. She still took care of Tsuna and they still tried to do their homework together, much to her father's disappointment (he was always hoping her friendship with the _Sawada spawn_ would disappear once they matured).

She admired and adored and cherished Reborn. Stupid question 7, stupid cute disguises, stupid baby.

Gokudera was... starting to warm up to Namimori -and, to Takeshi. They still fought more time than they spent speaking casually, but it wasn't as bad as it had been when he got here two weeks, maybe three, ago. Yeah, a few weeks is not enough to cause a life-changing impact in someone's life, so Namimori and Takeshi will need to try harder. Hide believes they will one day, in the future, be friends enough with each other he will be able to leave them in a room alone without them breaking _everything_.

As for Takeshi... well, he was oblivious. Half-oblivious, pretending to be oblivious? (Tsuna said it was creepy like three years ago and since then, Hide had focused on Takeshi a little more. He still can't differentiate between pretend-Takeshi and real-Takeshi when it comes to these matters.) He had gone back to the sword, but casually. Really casual, as in he hadn't accepted Mochida's challenges to prove who was the best swordsman (they came every two days, now) with the excuse he was too focused on baseball to really be a good swordsman, sorry. He laughed at Hide's and Gokudera's ideas of _Mafia_ and really liked Reborn's training methods. Takeshi is oddball magnifique.

It had been an... eventful month.

Which is why Hide found himself walking to a cake store with Gokudera, Reborn sitting on his arms complaining he wanted coffee cake. It was _the break day_ for Reborn's tutoring, and he had decided he would get everything he wanted as he was two years old and a spoiled child.

Reborn _always_ gets everything he wants.

* * *

**021**

**Suspension of Disbelief**

Shouichi finds himself in the Sawada's living room, watching in amazement as Tsunayoshi chats _excitedly_ with Enma through the phone. Tsunayoshi being excited about anything is a marvel and an event to be treasured forever, which is why Shouichi doesn't dare tell him his dozen undone homework are due tomorrow or that there is a kid juggling with a pink grenade at the kitchen doorway.

"Lambo- _san_ wants grapes!"

"Yes, yes. We will get grapes, Lambo- _kun_ , but first we need Hide- _kun_ to come back with Reborn's cake." That's Mamma Sawada, who picks up the kid with the grenades and walks back into the kitchen with him. "Meanwhile, how about you help Mamma with dinner?"

"Okay!"

The Sawada house was a quiet, relaxing place a month ago, before the _baby_ arrived. There were three people living in it, not six -Lambo, the _baby_ and the red haired model woman. There were only three rooms occupied, but now there are four, as what would be the guest room has been taken over by a foreign model by the name of Bianchi.

Shouichi tries hard to ignore her. Focusing too much on deadly, poisonous women will be the end of him: see, his sister. See, Miura Haru. See, Kozato Mami.

Tsuna sits before him, still chatting like a ten years old ('-and Byakuran said he would come in a few months, you should visit-'), wrapped in an invisible hallucination that is Daemon Spade. The hallucination _is_ there (Shouichi can feel it), though it is invisible and holding on to his ward so tight he can see the small bruises forming under misty fingers.

He doesn't want to know what happened. Daemon has always been possessive, Tsunayoshi said, and Shouichi wants to _believe_ his small charge isn't in danger whenever he and Daemon are alone.

What he tries his best to ignore is the white, flaming dragon wrapped around Shouichi's neck.

The dragon is long, thin and smells of flowers (more like, it smells of orchids and the seaside, and Shouichi wants to scream when he realizes he feels oddly at ease with the smell); though it tended to change its appearance whenever it dropped by, it is currently _Ryuu_ -shaped, with two long whiskers framing its mouth. Unlike other times when it would visit Tsunayoshi before anything else, the dragon had dropped by Shouichi's house and refused to move unless carried around.

The long list of _events to be cross-referenced_ the dragon had brought is still hiding in Shouichi's bag, inside a fake book with a fake cover and hidden under a fake bottom. He can't risk anyone finding it, even if he would rather give it back to Byakuran.

' _I'm not your minion_ ,' he had admitted in a rather long and heated conversation. ' _And I'm not going to waste my time being ordered around by you!_ '

The argument had been moot, as Byakuran had claimed he _had_ to complete the list, _for Tsunayoshi's mind!_ ; and then he had hung up and Shouichi was left yelling at a dead line while Byakuran and his dragon laughed at him (one from the USA, the other from his room).

So, Shouichi had been left with a supernatural, hallucinative dragon made of flames and a list of future events that, so far, have matched Tsunayoshi's retellings of last week... kind of. There was the arrival of Reborn, the hell tutor; then, Gokudera Hayato and Lambo, and Bianchi. Some events don't match at all, like Yamamoto Takeshi or Hidetada's whole being, but well.

Byakuran _doesn't_ like Hidetada. He has taken to calling him an anomaly, claiming he wasn't supposed to exist and that he was an usurper stealing Tsunayoshi's rightful place in the world. Both Shouichi and Enma have tried to stop his plans to get _rid of the entity, for once and for all!_ , as Tsunayoshi loves his brother and Byakuran has no right to say who has a right to exist and who doesn't.

Byakuran doesn't have the right to say what animals have a right to be or not, either, but here he has a dragon. And he has been trying to kidnap a baby lion to gift to Tsunayoshi since last year, so there.

Even as he takes back _his_ phone from Tsunayoshi's hands (it is his, his specially made and hacked phone that, thankfully, doesn't need to be paid), Shouichi has to wonder what did he do _wrong_ in some parallel universe to deserve all this happening to him.

He wishes he didn't meet any of his children, but also, he is having the most fun he has had in years.

* * *

**022**

**School clubs**

In the short time Reborn has been in Namimori, he has noticed a few things.

One, Namimori is the oddest closed community he has had the chance to live in. The Vongola States are _weird_ , being a gate community quite outside of the national law, but Namimori breaks the mold when it comes to it. Namimori, and the few towns surrounding it, which were all in private-owned lands or yakuza-run territory.

He has spoken to Iemitsu about it, and his only answer was that he didn't _know_ what was up with it. Since he was young, Namimori had belonged and followed the rule of a group of families that worked for their own profit (though they worked for the sake of the town); that hadn't changed since decades. Sawada Ietsuna, in his rare moments of lucidness, had also admitted he hadn't known of a Namimori that wasn't under the reign of the Hibari household, nor ever heard of it. Kusakabe Chiyo had backed up his claims, as had the local archives and city hall registries that went as far as the 1850s.

Sawada Nana had, in a moment of helpfulness, admitted that her passport and visa had been issued by the Japanese government, as had Hidetada's. Both of them had had to get local approval to settle into Namimori grounds, which had been heavily aided by the fact Hidetada was a Sawada by blood and Nana, by marriage (' _or we probably wouldn't be living here, the law is quite strict about it'_ ).

Two, asides from the town, the people of Namimori themselves were quite odd and interesting. They turned a blind eye to fights and weaponry in the middle of the street, and supplies which were usually hard to come by and illegal were easily acquired. Gokudera Hayato had once told him he had gone into a chemist for raw material for his explosives, and been _subtly_ redirected to a private-owned storehouse that imported and produced C-4, nitroglycerin and TNT, as well as caps and other supplies. They were, however, still illegal to carry around, a matter which was dealt by the DC.

Reborn and Bianchi had found a few similar storehouses holding some rarer chemicals, firearms, hand weapons of all kinds and even a _blacksmith_ who produced custom-made _kitchen_ and _hunting_ knives and _decorative_ swords. The presence of said storehouse explained a lot of the foreigners (mostly chinese) and other people from out of town that appeared around Namimori and disappeared in a couple of days. They had dragged _Baka_ -Hide to one of the stores and gotten a neat, short and light extendable baton, while Bianchi fussed about unrusting cooking knives.

On that quest, they had found a ring with a beautiful indigo stone at display at a jeweller's, and Hide had bought it at pocket money's worth for Tsunayoshi, much to Yamamoto's confusion. Tsunayoshi had been delighted by the ring and had hidden it in his _stash of things Hide-_ nii _has gifted me_ , to never be seen again.

Three. As part of Namimori, schools had strict rules and policies for _everything_. Case in point, after-school clubs, and recruitment for said clubs.

" **EXTREMELY JOIN THE BOXING CLUB, SAWADA!** "

It is recruitment week in Namimori Middle (and apparently, all of Namimori schools), and Reborn is having the time of his life watching his relatively competent student fend off a mob of boxing club members with a broom and kicks. Gokudera is standing close to him, with a duster, while Yamamoto is politely declining track club members' requests by evading their sprint-charged attacks.

The school gates are barricaded against entrance and exit by desks and chairs brought out from the classrooms this morning, and a few first year students who didn't catch their seniors attention have climbed up the barricade and escaped. Reborn's student and his friends, unfortunately, were cornered as soon as classes let out by the boxing, fencing and general martial arts clubs; while Gokudera had already scared away the few chemistry and physics club recruiters who dared approach him (he agreed, however, to drop by the supernatural and occult research club sometime through the week).

"This is the time we prove _who_ is the strongest, Sawada, Yamamoto!"

Mochida Kensuke, president of the _kendo_ club, and Sasagawa Ryohei for the boxing club, were the two highest spirited recruiters in the whole mob. With a wooden sword and bare fists, the two had fended away the most persistent of the general martial arts, judo and aikido club members and are in their way to break the lines made by the track club.

Reborn smiles and directs his attention to his phone screen. A camera feed is showing Namimori Elementary's courtyard, in a similar situation, though with less clubs and people. A small group of children dressed in black jackets with red armbands have surrounded Sawada Tsunayoshi, Sasagawa Kyoko and a couple other children, and Kurokawa Hana is passively standing in front of them giving them a speech.

" _...-Committee is the most respected group in all of Namimori. Being related to it will prove you benefits in exchange for your hard work and discipline-..._ "

Through another camera Reborn has installed in Midori's general premises, he notices similar events going on in the other, more high class schools; Kokuyo shows the same, though less school-related and with more chaos. He sees Bianchi making rounds through the streets of Kokuyo, Lambo clinging to her (he will have to ask them what they found. Kokuyo is still a mystery to them).

" **EXTREME!** " Sasagawa Ryohei is yelling once again, and Reborn takes a moment to shoot the dying will bullet at Hide. The effect is instantaneous.

While the whole recruitment process is hilarious, he doesn't want Hide to lose because one, it would be a shame for _Reborn's student_ to lose against an almost untrained boy and two, Hide would cry if he loses. And, though Reborn doesn't care for Hide's feelings, mafia bosses shouldn't cry about losing in a fight.

As Hide and Sasagawa have a mini showdown, Yamamoto has encountered Mochida. He wonders if the more peaceful clubs, like the baseball club, have anything to say about the right of conquest ways of the school's recruitment ways. If, by a chance, Yamamoto loses against Mochida, would he have to leave the baseball club? Would Namimori Middle consent to letting their baseball star simply leave the team?

Questions.

" **JOIN OUR CLUB!** "

" **NEVER!** "

" _...-follow them! We must not let them flee!_ " The elementary school's camera is saying, which is a good sign. If Tsunayoshi managed to escape the Committee's clutches, then that's an extra point for him.

Suddenly, a deadly aura surrounds Reborn. Cold, familiar, bringing along a smell of green tea and metal with it; he is reminded of Fon even as he is picked up and turned around to look at the Disciplinary Committee's chairman and unspoken ruler of Namimori's minor citizens.

"Baby."

"Hibari Kyoya."

Hibari narrows his eyes at him, but a yell from below catches his attention. It would seem Hide won his battle against Sasagawa (with his dying will, of course), and Reborn couldn't be more pleased.

"You have brought loudness with you, baby," says Hibari, putting him on the fence of the roof. "I will not have you disturbing the peace. You have been warned."

And just like that, he is gone, and Reborn is left alone to contemplate school clubs once again.

* * *

**023**

**Sick day /**

**the Sawada brothers**

"WHAT IS TH-"

Tsunayoshi wakes up to his brother's screaming, and Daemon whines as the warm, warm body lying besides him leaves him alone. The door cracks open, letting the loud screams from the room past the hallway to flood into theirs ('WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT'), and Tsunayoshi flinches. Loud yelling has never been his favorite way to wake up.

" _Sensei_ , there is loudness outside."

"So there is, Tsunayoshi. Ignore it."

Tsunayoshi, of course, doesn't. He has always been close to his brother, and Hidetada interrupting his sleep isn't going to stop him from caring. With a sigh, Daemon allows himself to vanish back into Tsunayoshi's mind and, after taking over one eye, starts doing maintenance work.

After the whole 'trip to the future' madness, when their connection had been tore apart with no previous warning, both Daemon and Tsunayoshi have been slightly more unstable than before. Tsunayoshi's mind had been scattered and _lost_ somewhere in the void that was the Sky Arcobaleno's Sight and, so far, he hasn't told anyone _what_ exactly he saw in those five minutes of future gazing that wasn't meant to happen. Not Enma, nor Byakuran, not even Shouichi or Daemon; whatever he saw, he has been keeping to himself, and that is not good.

Daemon himself didn't show it (he didn't want to, or need to, worry Tsunayoshi, after all), but the careful and precise reconnection he has had to do for the past weeks has been taking a lot out of him. Between shoving everything that was _Sight_ into a deep, dark place inside Tsunayoshi's mind and locking it away, and making sure their thoughts were synchronized once again, it had been a few busy weeks. Managing the growing sky flame and the hyper intuition that Tsunayoshi refused to let out in any way was also a hard task, as Giotto's blood was naturally wild when it came to the use of flames.

And, well, Daemon's own mind wasn't all that fine, either. The borders were ragged and cut unnaturally, and there was a corner of his thoughts which was starting to blend with Tsunayoshi's own. He couldn't leave for long periods of time, as that would cut the connection he had worked years on, and that was also rather troublesome: Daemon was a free ghost, and he had projects going on around the world he couldn't leave alone for long.

It is all worth it, though, as in the end he can see the tentative Vongola Decimo looking ridiculous like he does right now. Hidetada is curled up on his bed, under a pile of blankets which Tsunayoshi is trying to pull away, complaining loudly about Reborn's craziness and the lack of logic in his life. Daemon can see, in his hand, a little skull and it doesn't take him long to make the connection.

 _Skullitis_ , he whispers into Tsunayoshi's mind, taking a millisecond to re-balance the body as his student stumbles at the suddenness of his words. _It is the side effect of forcing dying will mode on an unwilling or incapable body. The opposite dispositions clash and force the body to go through a process known as internal rebuke._

Tsunayoshi didn't like senseless things. That was a fact Daemon had accepted since short after he began tutoring him, and for the first few months he had to be very careful about his own self (he didn't want Tsunayoshi to _will_ him out of existence, which may have happened had Daemon revealed himself as anything less than human). If it wasn't because he had been surrounded by ancient spirits and weird creatures since his birth -nevermind the Arcobaleno curse, that was unfair even in Daemon's eyes-, he would probably deny the existence of everything mafia-related. What is controlling flames that come from your resolution when you have met a person who claims to be able to peer into different worlds and has a pair of dragon companions?

Maybe he should worry that Tsunayoshi's notion of 'slightly extravagant' was Byakuran Gesso. He drew a line at Byakuran Gesso, which means everything relatively more normal than Byakuran Gesso was complete and absolutely accepted as logical. Illusions were completely normal. Flames? Possession? Normal.

A baby hitman who wants to train his brother into a mafia boss? Everyday stuff.

So, when Tsunayoshi mentally shrugged and released the blankets (making Hidetada go sprawling on the floor thanks to momentum), Daemon knew he had accepted the existence of _skullitis_ as a fact. Probably shoved it aside into the box of 'things to analyze later', but accepted without fuss, which meant he would be panicking about his brother's health in about-

 _Will he be alright_ , comes Tsunayoshi's thought, colored with concern and exasperation. All the while, he is looking around for Reborn, probably to demand he _fix his brother, and fix him now_.

 _Skullitis has a high fatality rate due to the rarity of cases and lack of research. My guesses are it is above 70%, if only because of the counter disease and quick action from a couple of medics in the last decade._ Daemon hums to himself, sending a reassuring wave through his host's mind. _I am sure the Vongola wouldn't let their tentative boss die, Tsunayoshi._

 _You never know_ , and like that, their conversation is over. Tsunayoshi is already stomping over to Reborn, pouting at the baby who looks like he is having the time of his life. "Fix him."

"There is no cure," Reborn (that blasted _baby_ ) chirps, balancing on the desk chair with a phone in his hand. "I have called a funeral company. Do you have any preferences?"

Daemon _feels_ the surge of Mist flames under Tsunayoshi's hand, drawn from his own reserves. It isn't much, just enough for the boy to distract Reborn for a split second and snatch the phone away. It would seem their training is paying off (too bad Tsunayoshi refuses to use his Sky flames ever since the dog incident. It would be quite beautiful to see a petrified Reborn).

"Heal Hide- _nii._ "

Reborn seems to have sensed the flames as well, for he is looking at Tsunayoshi with an unreadable expression. Hidetada groans, rolling on the floor and complaining loudly, and yet Reborn keeps his eyes on Tsunayoshi.

Then he nods, steals back his phone and leaves through the window.

"Hide- _nii_ , are you okay?" Tsunayoshi goes to kneel by his brother, pulling his head to his lap and pressing a hand to his forehead. "You are burning up, should I bring you some water or an ice pack? Do you want something to eat?"

Hidetada looks... not well. Asides from the _skullitis_ manifesting on his skin, the opposed wills are probably eating at him from inside. Maybe to anyone else, an imbalance wouldn't affect them too much, but Sky flame users were naturally harmonious and any kind of imbalance could throw their bodies out of synch. Added to the flame seal on Hidetada's, the balance was probably completely leaning on one side.

Hidetada doesn't have a strong flame to start with. His strengths laid in physical strength, quick reflexes and below average... everything else. Even his hyper intuition, which usually manifested as a general readings of _everything_ , had developed as an hyper detailed reading of _presences_ (which is the only reason why Hidetada knows Daemon is around, even if he doesn't know exactly _what_ he is. Daemon is still stunned whenever Hidetada greets him -or his general direction- whenever there is no one else around). Had his flames not been sealed so early, he would have probably grown into yet another terrifying mini-Giotto, spy version.

"Tsuna..." Well, Daemon can't see Giotto in this whiny child who clings to Tsunayoshi whenever he is sick, or tired, or just needy. The boy's paranoia is a definite plus, though. "You told off Reborn...!"

"I did no such thing," answers Tsunayoshi as he runs his hands through Hidetada's short hair. He is pouring in some flames into the imbalance, from what Daemon can sense; at least it should help the disease from spreading too quickly. "You should get back to bed, _nii-san_."

"No...!" Hidetada whines, wrapping his arms around Tsunayoshi's waist (and Tsunayoshi reaches for the blankets to cover him again, ignoring the skull that is growing a speech bubble: _bugs are scary scary scary bugs are scary_ ). "Stay with me."

"Okay!"

And through the following half an hour, the Sawada siblings spend their thinking abilities in a long winded game of _shiritori_. Even when Daemon goes to sit, invisible, on the windowsill and scares Hidetada out of his mind, they don't drop the topic they have chosen.

* * *

**024**

**Mist**

Doctor Shamal (just Shamal, though his long-discarded identity had a surname) really hates treating men. It is one thing when they are children, or apparent children like Reborn and the Arcobaleno, but male teenagers and adult men are something he dislikes strongly. It isn't even a sex thing, because he had treated some transgender women who hadn't bothered, or couldn't invest in surgery or hormonal therapy just yet, and he was okay with them (they were real darlings, those women).

Men are rough and insensitive, while women _understand_ people. At least, most women do, and he has had the pleasure to meet lots of beautiful women who were also beautiful people. Men, not so much. He has one or two male friends who are the best friends one could find in the terrible world he lives in, but women are to be treasured and he prefers to not get them involved in the underworld if he can.

Lots of people looked at him wrong because of his womanizing ways, but well, he was raised by one scary lady who never bothered to teach him any better. She was scary and had a bizarre view of her fellow women that Shamal had learned from: 'it is better to have them on your side as friends or lovers, or have them as enemies who will not approach you; never leave them in between,' or something like that. He has lived by those words always and hey, it has worked pretty well so far.

When Reborn got to him and dragged him to the dreaded Sawada household (Iemitsu was an asshole and he had _two_ sons. Two mini-Iemitsus, the horror), he had been immersed in a conquest. She had, of course, fled the moment she laid her eyes on Reborn -probably thinking he was his son; it had happened before and neither of them wanted to fix the misunderstanding. So he had to let go of her, poor dear, to follow along with a tyrant's whims.

Namimori had been a fun place so far. Not so, right now.

"So, this child-Iemitsu-"

"Is nothing like Iemitsu," Reborn says, knocking on the Sawada house's door like he didn't have a key of it hiding inside his hat. " _Baka_ -Hide is stupid, but not like his shit father."

The door opens to reveal a smiling child-Tsuyoshi, who smiles wider at seeing them with such a copy of Tsuyoshi's face it leaves no doubt in Shamal's mind this is Yamamoto Takeshi. _Again_. As if Shamal hasn't seen Tsuyoshi smiling widely at having an assassin right in front of his door enough times already. Yamamotos could do well with a little paranoia, honestly.

"Hi kid!" Yamamoto lets them come inside, closing the door behind them like this was his house. "Gokudera said Hide needed a check up, is this the doctor?"

"Yes," Reborn agrees, jumping on Yamamoto's head and sitting comfortably on it. Shamal feels bad about having to look up at him, now. "This is Doctor Shamal, he will check on Hide."

There is loud cursing coming from where Shamal presumes is the kitchen, and a few seconds later Gokudera Hayato comes out from it. He is pointing a wooden spoon at them, anger showing in his face. A girl comes out after him, a tray with a bowl and a glass of something in her hands, looking confused.

"Why is the pervert doctor here!?"

"Hahi! Is this Hide- _san_ 's doctor? Should Haru call Nana- _san_ back?"

Hayato used to be a cute boy, back then; then his family ruined him and he became the wild, unmanageable hitman he is now. Shamal had had the good fortune to be there for Hayato's best moments, and also the most embarrasing. Lots of blackmail material, there. He often wondered if that was what having a little brother was like, but Hayato is more of a student than anything else. A student who never took to his careful and precise skills, instead choosing to focus in loud and expansive attacks.

A shame. A great mind, but lack of control, self-awareness and focus.

"I am paying a debt," he answers to the spoon shoved in his face, sweeping it aside with a lazy grin. "Not that I want to be here, but who would this charming lady be?"

As he fusses over the girl ('Haru,' she introduces herself after giving the tray to Hayato, who flees up the stairs still grumbling under his breath) and kisses her hand, he does a quick mental check on what he can find from her. Civilian, her immediate trust in him tells him; not strong, definitely not a weapon user, but active, from her frame, lack of callouses in her hands (her finger tips are soft and tender, as if used to being covered) and the way she skips on her place.

A good girl. No threat, but with potential.

The youngest Yamamoto, Smoking Bomb Hayato and this girl, now. The future Vongola Decimo had a good eye for skill and talent, and had to be a kind person or Hayato wouldn't be around. So, definitely not a mini-Iemitsu.

Reborn leads him up the stairs and Shamal does a double take at the pictures in the walls. Iemitsu, he recognizes, but if that is not Vongola Primo's reincarnation then he will swallow his mosquitoes. The other boy is the weird love-child of _neatness_ and Iemitsu, two things he would never put together, but what shocks him the most is the wife.

Sawada Nana, uh. There was definitely a story Iemitsu wasn't sharing behind that.

Mini-Tsuyoshi and Haru follow behind them, whispering to each other and making so much noise Shamal doesn't feel uncomfortable showing his back to them. They are there, they are safe, _he_ is safe and has a job to do.

He steps through the mist barrier without flinching, but he throws a subtle look at the anchors: a door with a tuna sign on one side, and another with a hanging sign that simply spells 'No'. So, whoever is behind the barrier is clearly protecting the owners of those rooms. There are two other doors in the hallway and all of them are closed.

Reborn kicks the door with the sign open and they walk in (the children stay behind).

The first thing he notices is the clear influence of two different occupants in the room. There is a desk in one corner, with a small shelf above it, and a pile of open books he recognizes as Reborn's light reading and study materials scattered on it, its chair and the windowsill, and even the floor. Between the desk and the drawer lays Reborn's hammock, and his impossible suitcase is next to it. The drawer looks made of compartments and it is impossible to look at, Shamal can just imagine it to be filled with Reborn's hobby tools and whatever he is interested in at the moment.

The other side has a really low bed, with a shivering mess of blankets atop it. Asides from some pillows and a bedsheet, there is nothing on the floor: no games, no homework, no magazine (definitely not a healthy teenage boy). There is a set of fighting sticks lined by length by the wall and a clothes stand with a black jacket draped over it. A shelf above the bed holds a couple of trophies, a decorative candle and a photo frame.. Nothing looks out of place, not even Hayato kneeling by the bed and worrying over the shivering blankets, and there doesn't seem to be a single speck of dust.

The windowsill holds a napping Leon, a small box and a chiming windbell, and Shamal wants to laugh. Definitely not mini-Iemitsu. Is that a paper lamp screen?

"Decimo! The pervert doctor is here, please come out!" Hayato seems to be working overtime to pull Vongola Decimo out from under the blankets, evading the little hand that is slapping his arm away. "Please!"

"Hide- _nii_ is tired," calls a childish voice, along with another slap to Hayato's arm. "Hayato shouldn't have brought the doctor in! Hide _-nii_ will be alright!"

"Tsunayoshi- _san_! Please reconsider!"

"Never!"

"How long has he been like this?"

His whisper to Reborn went answered by chubby fingers: one, then four. He groans: it is definitely too late to deal with a crazy ex-student and a crazier mini-Iemitsu. Mini-Iemitsus, even, though they didn't act like their father at all.

"Alright, then. Hayato, out. You too, Reborn."

He owes a debt, and he knows how humiliating _skullitis_ is past the hour-and-a-half mark. And painful. It will still be easy to cure, but the recovery process would be rough. Specially since he is a Sky.

Closing the door behind the unneeded hitmen (after a round of yells, threats and gunshots), he takes a moment to compose himself. Why is everyone in his life so stubborn, he will never know, but he is honestly tired of it.

The rustle of fabric makes him turn around and meet the eyes of Vongola Primo in the flesh.

Shamal's guardian loved genealogy and genetics. She had spent lots of time researching bloodlines and tracing them back as far as she could, and had been specially interested in the bloodline of Vongola Primo. She had done too much research in flame genetics, though, and been killed due to it, but it had been her belief that strong flames could kickstart recessive genes in a family for its own benefit. The genes resonated with the flame, or so she claimed; that the two worked on a wave with personality to determine the strength of the flame and its manifestation.

Shamal had grown up watching the research take shape, looking for the perfect test subject, looking for a scientific proof it could be possible. He had worked along with Reborn (is the strength of Sun flames determined by the level of mental activity of its wielders?), with Iemitsu (does the Sky harmony affect a person's personality disorders?) and even questioned himself (is one's approach to real life a reflection of one's approach at the use of Mist flames; the answer was yes, so far). The research was highly subjective because of the lack of information on, well, everything, and yet.

Yet here is Vongola Primo, or a recolored clone, not turning his eyes away even as his brother (sick _skullitis_ patient unarmed no threat no danger) whines and throws the covers off. The smallest brother (Sky danger threat unarmed _familiar_ Mist) brings his hand up to rest on the other's forehead.

"He's burning up, _sensei_ ," the boy whispers to the nothingness and Shamal doesn't waste a second to get by the bed. "Please _fix him_."

Even after the second it takes for Vongola Decimo to jerk away from his touch, Shamal feels the _wrongness_ of _everything_. If there was a visual representation of Hidetada's will right now, it would probably be a vertical line: the balance is completely broken, so far it is almost upside down.

_I wouldn't hide the dog_

The distance of the skulls from the heart _supposedly_ represents the severity of the words. There are a few in his arms and legs ( _Competition makes me feel alive_ and _I want to see Tokyo one day_ , and Shamal doesn't know what it tells about this kid those are _shameful secrets_ ), but the majority is around his neck and chest (he is really burning up) (it looks like a rope, a hanging rope of shame around his neck).

_I wouldn't hide the dog._

_I am terrified for Tsuna._

_It is fun to discipline people._

_We killed it and I will never be sorry._

* * *

**024.b**

**(a)morality**

_We killed it and I will never be sorry._

Tsuna reads the skull, feeling the joy settle in the corner of a corner of his mind. Daemon likes Hide's ruthless side, even if it rarely shows up. Not that Hide enjoys battles, precisely, but he enjoys peace, discipline and competition. There is another like that, but he enjoys battles instead of peace, and Hide had adapted through the years.

_We killed it and I will never be sorry._

The apathy settles around a bubble of anxiety, locking it away until later. Hide is cured, Hide is healthy, he will live (not like _that_ , but Tsuna can still feel the flames and heat in his face, the gun in his hand and the howl of pain, the sirens approaching and Hide's frantic voice telling him to _get away_ ), Hide is back to normal. Hide will not stop moving anytime soon, he has survived Reborn's training, he _has_ to live at least until he is forty.

_We killed it and I will never be sorry._

He wonders why is it that he never questioned being sorry or not. He just doesn't, it was self defense and Hide hates seeing him hurt. And he hates seeing Hide hurt, as well, so it made the most sense to kill the dog ( _weapon_ , it was a _living_ weapon) than not.

Would he have hesitated at killing the man?

_I am terrified for Tsuna._

At times he is, as well. About this lack of _reaction_ towards anything concerning a human life. He cares, but if it is the best for someone to disappear, then isn't it better if they do? What is this called, gray morality? Amorality? No, that is animals, humans have some things in genetic memory, right?

_Right?_

Would he care if instead of _it_ , it had been a _him_? A person instead of a dog? Would _Hide_ care?

Probably not.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Theories written here are just a fuck up of theories I made up while reading the series. As thus, they are really weird and yeah.
> 
> Is there anything you want to read about for this story? I have run out of previously-written material until the start of the Kokuyo Arc, so I will probably be writing lots of short episodes to speed up the Daily Life Arc. Hopefully, one day.
> 
> Tsuna's and Daemon's relationship is the worst relationship they could have ever had, since they are cohabiting one mindscape: there is a feedback loop with their thoughts and emotions, which drags Hide along for the ride as he is attuned to Tsuna. Tsuna is by flame's influence apathetic (think HDWM Tsuna), and Daemon has been alive for long enough to lose important understanding of human mind. So, Tsuna is turning into a rather antisocial brat who only keeps himself together because his friends and brother are around.
> 
> I could have made Hide the younger brother and thus, Daemon's student, but since Hide is hyper aware of emotions and people, it would have lead him to be Daemon's perfect puppet and that wouldn't take us anywhere. Besides, Tsuna as a little brother makes me happy with joy, and I needed to have Tsuna as the main antagonist. Good luck, Sawada bros, you can do it.
> 
> I fucked up Namimori. A lot. I am sorry, Namimori. Soon you will receive crazy guests and I don't know what you will do. Byakuran is traveling right now, but he will drop by Namimori sometime soon, and Enma will be visiting as well. And let's not forget Mukuro. I am really, really sorry, Namimori.
> 
> As for Shamal, he is an interesting character in the sense we know near nothing about him. He can be anything and everything, so here he is turning into an exposition character. His episode was gigantic compared to others, even considering 023 and 024 were supposed to go together.
> 
> 024.b is technically an interlude -it is the companion of Hide's own (im)morality episode, but since Hide is passed out right now… Hopefully I can get it to fit somewhere next chapter. Which will hopefully be complete and not just bullshit.
> 
> Thank you, thank you for all the favorites and kudos. The reception for this has been above my expectations and I really, really want to see where it leads us. Hope more people will join this wild, wild ride from now and onwards!


	6. (un)lucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is still the weekend. The mystery of Namimori deepens, ft. adorable children, a game of tag and an unbirthday party.

**025**

**Tag**

Slow, lazy Namimori (now not so slow, and not so lazy) is a wonder of the world. A true wonder, Namimori is, with kind people and extremely sane citizens. Specially, the students: students of Namimori are a national treasure, to be protected at all costs, mostly under the guidance of anonymous tips posted in the DCB and bare fists. The students of Namimori are brave, peaceful folk that deserve an award for their ability to follow rules and listen to requests.

Not.

Sawada Hidetada, dubbed a faceless member of the community, currently runs for his life with an arm wrapped around his small, small brother's waist. He rounds in a corner, jumps over a fence, ignores all of Tsunayoshi's sounds of protest as he takes him to the border between Kokuyo and Namimori. Or, that is the idea: he is currently stuck in a closed off area, with fellow DC members after his life.

"Hide- _nii_ , it isn't so bad-"

"Shh, shh. Tsuna. Work with me."

"Kawahira- _san_ 's storehouse is past this block."

"That's where we will go."

It is the second day of Namimori Middle's athletic festival. Or, as Hide dubs it, the 'power crazy' festival, since that is basically what it is: an event built around the idea of personal strength and ability, rare teamwork and throwing people off your skin. It is Hibari Kyoya's favorite event out of the two or three festivals organized around the year, as he has free reign to beat people up in the name of victory.

Like every other year, Disciplinary Committee members had all resigned their positions in one of the three teams and pleaded neutrality. However, in a situation no one had seen happen before, Hidetada had been forced to remain in his team by Hibari Kyoya himself, who had taken leadership of his own fourth team (members: 1) with unvoiced protest.

" _If I beat you,"_ Hibari had said, giving a cold smile and surrounded by his prefects, _"Sawada Tsunayoshi will join the Disciplinary Committee."_

Hide is pretty sure that is illegal. Somewhere in the Committee's booklet, there must be a rule that says _DC members cannot put their personal wants before the city_. And that was exactly what Hibari was doing, breaking tradition and putting Hide and his brother in a no-win situation. A definite no-win situation.

Sasagawa Ryohei had, of course, been ecstatic at having the power to command Hide, or something. He had been signed up into a series of events, including the pole knocking event, along with Takeshi and Gokudera. He doesn't think anyone besides himself and the DC members know what is in stake for this particular event.

Currently, they are playing tag.

(To Hibari, that means either detention, run for your life, survive at all costs, find a hiding spot and hide for three days straight or give up. Hibari doesn't know defeat.)

Hide doesn't want his brother in the DC, no matter what. After the hell that was recruitment week, he is not in anyways ready to face a furious, frustrated chairman who only wants to corrupt children. _His little brother_ , damn it.

Well, if they win, his team is pretty much assured victory.

Hiding in a small storehouse in the middle of 'what the hell is happening' district, he hopes the _what the hell_ -ness is enough to distract his pursuers. He is not the only one of team A running, though: tag is a city-and-school-wide event, with every student being for themselves. The addition of _the_ Hibari Kyoya means the pressure is on everyone, too: the DC members may have deserted their classmates, but they never abandoned their leader (Hide is the same, unless Tsuna's integrity is put in play).

"I think we are safe for now." Hide admits to be terrified right now. His own involvement with the Disciplinary Committee was the result of him losing to Kusakabe Tetsuya in this same game, so many years ago. Elementary school had been _difficult_. "We should stay here for a while."

"Can we go talk with Kawahira- _san_?"

"You go- but don't go out!"

Tsuna slips from the small storehouse into the smaller store and Hide contemplates his life.

While scrolling down the DCB, he notices lots of _anonymous_ people are reporting seeing them somewhere else. Thank you, Namimori, thank you for the love and care, thank you for reporting fake appearances of the Sawada brothers around town-

There is an intangible (not that he touched it, but he has seen them before. Lots of times) golden watch next to him.

It is going backwards, too.

'What the hell is happening' district definitely lives up to its name.

He slumps over his legs, feeling like crying or curling up under his blankets and never showing his face again. It has been too long, now, to worry about anything that is going crazy in his life, and he can't give up now. Not the Committee, not the Vongola.

Definitely not the Vongola.

A wave of _interest ? worry_ reaches him, from the direction of Tsuna's nameless spirit, and he lifts his head to greet it. Maybe, maybe there is a shadow of a man with extravagant clothes and proper manners, but he cannot see it. He cannot see many things, but he can feel them, at least. He is good at feeling the invisible things that surround Tsuna, has learnt to read them pretty well. Same with a certain ancestor.

"Too many things are going wrong lately," he admits to the silent listener that is the spirit. The watch goes _tic-toc_. "I can't let Tsuna get involved with it."

_amusement condescension fearfearfear_

"Don't laugh at me, you are a possessive jerk as well." He really, really wants to reach for the shade and rip it off this plane of existence. Tsuna still hasn't stopped bandaging his arms. "I did see the thing by the door."

_acceptance ? fake-concern_

"Don't ask about me if you don't care!" He snaps at the _thing_ , forgetting for a second it is invisible and a complete jerk, but the thing keeps a constant questioning mark. Well:"Everything is just… weird, like I have this terrible feeling-"

"Are you speaking to yourself, _Baka_ -Hide."

He jumps and the back of his head _hurts_ so much. The spirit is gone, or just apathetic (it is surprisingly good at disguising it emotions, as is Tsuna), and Hide finds himself missing its constant _I am better than you and you are trash_ mood. The watch is gone as well, with its _tic toc_ \- it will come back soon, he guesses.

Reborn, Gokudera and Takeshi's faces show through the storehouse's tiny window. The other window lets in a reddish, low light, and he makes the terrifying deduction it is _evening_.

Damn you, 'what the hell is happening' district. Damn you.

"The tag game finished a while ago," Takeshi tells him when he walks out of the storehouse. He is holding up Reborn, and Gokudera is holding Tsuna's hand. Well, Tsuna looks as confused as him, so at least he didn't disappear on his baby brother. "We are lighting fireworks for Gokudera today!"

"No, we are not troubling Decimo with your _crazy ideas_!"

He wants to go home, but also, he is kind of happy.

* * *

**026.a**

**Unbirthday**

A loud scream wakes the inhabitants of the Namimori household, forces Daemon out of Tsunayoshi's dream and, somehow, dissolves the barrier around the house. All in one, the three events make Daemon feel strongly disoriented and out of place. And, paranoid.

"Tsunayoshi?" No, he is glaring at the door, which means... "Hidetada?"

" _Nii-san_ , it is the third time this week!" Tsunayoshi throws a book at the door, but Daemon is quick to catch it. He watches in amusement as his student barges into his brother's room, a slipper in his hand. "It is Sunday, too- Eh?"

Daemon warps over, invisible, when Tsunayoshi shrieks.

There is a body (human, this time) slumped on Hidetada's legs, a bright and growing pool of blood staining its shirt. Bullet, probably, if the gun clutched tightly in Hidetada's hands is anything to go by. He is thankful they weren't woken up by the gunshot, his paranoia tends to do things and Tsunayoshi doesn't like loud sounds.

He wants to give Hidetada a thumbs up, but that is not appropriate in this situation, or for himself. So, he speaks.

"Well done, Hidetada."

"DON'T APPROVE!"

The brothers yell in the general direction of Daemon, and he belatedly realizes next to him is Arcobaleno Reborn. He is smiling deviously, almost proudly, and Daemon hates him even more than he used to hate Vongola Quarto (disappointing weakling, he should have killed him when he had the chance).

He steps back next to Tsunayoshi and the wall, unwilling to go near a dead body or a Sun Arcobaleno.

"Congratulations on becoming a man, Hide," comes a voice by the door as Bianchi steps into the room. She claps, once, a tender smile in her face and all sisterly affections drifting from her ( _disgusting_ , he thinks, and though Hidetada chokes on nothing he seems to approve). "I will cook some red rice for you."

"SAWADA HIDETADA," and that is Mamma Sawada, from downstairs. Tsunayoshi cringes, Hidetada goes white and Daemon has to smile. Sawada Nana is an interesting lady. "I DESERVE MORE THAN SIX HOURS OF SLEEP, KEEP QUIET!"

The women of the house gone quiet and busy, Hidetada gets out from under the corpse and puts the gun on the desk with a loud _clack_. Daemon can almost hear him chanting _human human it is human_ \- no, wait, that would be Tsunayoshi's thoughts through the link, muddled and confused with a pale tint of _denial_. He reaches to hug him, settling down on the clothes stand to watch the drama unfold.

"S-Should we-?"

"I- We- I need-"

" _Hide-_ san _! It is morning, it is Sunday, and it is the thirteenth!_ "

It is impossible for Hidetada to go whiter, and Reborn looks more amused at every second. He hasn't spoken and probably isn't planning to, just watching the events unfold. Daemon finds it absolutely distasteful -he talked the children out of their shock after killing a _dog_ , Reborn should be doing the same for his student. First kills are nothing to laugh at.

" _Hide! We're going with Gokudera to the arcade, right?_ "

" _Don't lump me in with you, baseball idiot! I just came to greet Decimo!_ "

The actors seem to be gathering downstairs, the sounds of shuffling and quiet greetings reaching the room. Lambo's voice drifts in with a loud wail, and Gokudera seems to yell afterward. Daemon himself is resisting the urge to laugh, scream and put Hidetada and Tsunayoshi inside an airtight box. Reborn, though… the bastard is smiling.

"What will you do, _Baka_ -Hide?"

Tsunayoshi, apparently, agrees completely with Daemon's own feelings about Reborn. The flames bubble angrily underneath his hands, nails digging into his palms and eyes narrowed into thin slits; his student is a tightly coiled mess of hatred and worry. One would have to be suicidal to cross Tsunayoshi in this situation -except, Tsunayoshi banned himself from flames, so he won't do a thing. Pity, the Arcobaleno would be better off gone.

He muses on the possibility of starting to train Tsunayoshi in self-defense. Would Reborn notice?

Hidetada glances at them and Daemon throws _apathy_ at him. He looks away immediately, giving a lost, void look at the gun and then the corpse. He nudges Tsunayoshi over to his brother, but both siblings seem to be frozen from shock.

 _It is the thirteenth, Tsunayoshi_ , he whispers into the boy's mind, receiving a belated wordless response in return ( _pain reluctance acceptance_ ).

"I called Shamal to forge us a coroner's certificate," Reborn chips in, bringing the whole tension crashing on the room. It snaps something in Tsunayoshi's mind. "We need to dispose of the body."

And then Tsunayoshi is gone from his side, clinging instead to Hidetada, who hides his face in his brother's neck and trembles. A mirror image of another scene he has seen in the past, two or three times; he wonders if it is his fault the Sawada family is so unlucky.

Daemon quietly lets himself vanish back into his blankness, contemplating, not before whispering to the newly created killer:

_"Happy birthday, Hidetada."_

* * *

**026.b**

**(im)morality**

It is the thirteenth of September, and he has killed a person.

Today, he is fourteen years old, and he has killed a human being.

 _Happy birthday, Hidetada_.

Tsuna knows. The spirit knows, and so does Reborn. Bianchi. Hide himself. A _person_.

 _Do I care_?

He needs to ask himself this, and he does as he goes numbly through his mind for proper corpse disposal protocol. Self-defense deaths in Namimori aren't unheard of: the people who are armed outnumber the people who aren't, apparently. They aren't blameless, either; most Disciplinary Committee members _are_ in the Committee because of some slip up with the police, though they are usually witnesses or accomplices.

 _Human_.

It takes him a few seconds to realize that, while he cares right now, he doesn't necessarily need to care. He doesn't know this person, this _human_. For all he knows, it is just a mannequin that used to have free will and autonomous mobility. He can't _see_ it as a person anymore: the fact is slowly slipping out of his mind, into the depths that is his mind, along with the fear and guilt.

_Human. Person._

He could have attacked _Tsuna_. His living, breathing little brother who is _right here_ , or his living, breathing mother who is downstairs. Or Lambo, who is banned from weapons and toys when sleeping. He could have hurt his family. This _thing_ could have done so many things, and yet Hide stopped that from happening.

That is... _good_ , right? This is a life, though- No, it _was_ a life. A criminal life.

It would have disturbed the peace of the ancient name of Sawada. The peace of Namimori. The peace he has vowed to keep. Burglars aren't needed. Criminals aren't needed.

_First the weak, then the town. Then the family and our own.  
_

This person isn't weak or innocent: he entered a civilian house with intent of theft. He isn't a citizen of Namimori, either, and it isn't like his death will influence the prosperity of the town. Family; he would have hurt the family, he could have hurt _Tsuna_ had he gone in from the other window. It is self-defense, right?

 _Do not regret_.

And he doesn't.

"Let's burn it."

* * *

**026.c**

**Family**

The man's name is Moretti, and he is a professional in the use of _Addio_. Part of the Vongola, he was visiting Japan and some old friends when he found Reborn was training Vongola Decimo in Namimori. He had come here to introduce himself and display his skills.

Tsuna doesn't like this man. Daemon doesn't, either, though he does approve of Moretti visiting ( _it will be a good chance to test Hidetada's resolution_ ); he would be the first person to go unemployed if Daemon took over the Vongola. Hide too, apparently, as he has been throwing angry glances at the man ever since he woke up.

They had wanted to burn the corpse, of course. Burning corpses is a Hibari-approved method of corpse disposal. The almighty ruler of Namimori (regent, currently: Hibari senior was away for the month) had dropped by, much to Hide's shame, and insisted Hide himself get rid of the body for practice. When they were plotting for the best place, means of transport and report to the police, Hayato, Takeshi and Haru had shown up.

Hayato never did make peace with Hibari- _san_.

Currently, Moretti is apologizing. His birthday gift to Hide had been _dying_ , and he believes an apology will be enough. Even if he is prostrated in the ground before Hide, it isn't enough. Daemon is already planning how to torture the man into _never_ approaching again and Reborn looks blank.

Tsuna is sitting on Hide's lap, eating their cookies angrily, while Hide himself is snuggling him. Daemon is a steady presence by the window, making the wind bell chime happily, and Reborn is sitting on the drawer as _far_ from Daemon as possible. Haru is sprawled on a pillow on the floor, where she had dropped after the whole 'corpse' business was taken care of. Takeshi said he would try to stop his heart like Moretti did, and Hayato had claimed that was ridiculous and impossible (they are still trying).

Hide doesn't like to do much for his birthday. For the past six years, his birthday plans have always been 'go to the arcade with Takeshi, then visit Grandfather'. It doesn't look like it will change today, even if he had fake-killed a person and looked ready to pass out.

"Hide- _kun_?" Their mother calls from past the open door, looking sheepish. She woke up a while ago, around the time Hibari- _san_ arrived, and had already made a quick breakfast for the visitors and her family. Mamma works so fast. "Can you and Tsu- _kun_ come downstairs for a minute?"

They follow after her, leaving behind a group of bickering teenagers plus a baby and a mid-aged man. Lambo runs past their feet, squealing for Haru. Daemon waves and vanishes from the city, maybe, making Tsuna press closer to his brother (it is _cold_ and _void_ ).

"Ietsuna- _san_ and Chiyo- _san_ sent their gift, as did Father and Mother. Tsuyoshi- _san_ invited us to dinner, since it is Sunday and the restaurant closes early, but Miura- _san_ called that we should bring Haru- _chan_ before dark. Bianchi- _san_ wants to eat red rice for lunch, too, so it will be an interesting day." Their mother talks quickly and without room for interruptions, like always. She usually appears to be air headed and people don't think much of her, but both Hide and Tsuna know that their mother is the greatest and gets scary if she is disobeyed. "I tried to call Iemitsu, see if he remembered your birthday today, but it isn't dialing."

Hide was reaching for the packages on the table when she said this, making him stop. He looks up to their Mother's sad expression with a grin, and Tsuna hugs her waist.

"He will come back someday."

"If he isn't dead."

The routine is the same as three times a year, on every birthday, and Tsuna feels his dislike for his father growing more, and more.

That man isn't family.

The Vongola isn't family either.

(Even if Grandfather's gift to Hide is a pair of matching brooches that used to belong to Sawada Ieyasu and a beautiful dueling pistol in its box inherited through generations. They are beautiful, ancient and make Tsuna's head ache from Daemon's anger.

Tsuna won't give in to the Vongola and its shiny temptations.

Still, when Hide hands him one of the brooches, he squeals in joy and goes to hide it in his box of precious shiny things. Later, he gives Hide an equally ancient locket in an antique jewellery box, which he puzzles over before laughing at the engraving in the gold plate: _può la disciplina nella guerra più che il furore._

Having connections is the best.)

* * *

**Sky interlude**

**spoils of war**

"Happy birthday, coffee lover."

Hide looks up at the kitchen's door, where his mother is leaning peacefully and with a gentle smile in her face. She is holding a box wrapped in simple brown, with an orange bow, and he kicks the chair in front of him for her to sit.

He had been getting his nightly coffee (caffeine did _nothing_ to him, anymore) after the fiasco that had been his birthday. Well, the morning of his birthday, the day itself had gone pretty good. He had seen Haru, received blessing from his ancestor, fake-killed a person and received cute gifts from his friends and family.

A great birthday, with no kidnappings or burning warehouses and dead weaponized dogs. Better than last year.

His mother sits before him, placing the box delicately on the table. Her hands stays on it, though, meaning she has something to say, and Hide puts down his mug to give her his full attention.

"I discussed it with _Dad_ ," she says, slipping into English like she does when she refers to her family. She looks troubled, though her smile stays in her face. "And tried to call Iemitsu, bit you know..."

"Gramps, uh..." His maternal grandparents didn't usually contact them. They were busy and sent in letters as long as Hide is tall, but he had never met them or spoken to them directly. All his communication with that side of the family was through Mamma.

She motions for him to open his gift and reaches for the ashtray on the table, spinning it around, she had quit smoking when Tsuna was five, believing her matchsticks and abandoned lighters to be the cause of his spontaneous combustion accidents, but they had continued. She had been itching, lately, with Gokudera smoking so close to her and Hide, the smell lingering in his clothes.

Hide ignores it and opens the wrapping, revealing a sleek metal case with a simple codelock.

"We believe it is time you learn to fire a gun."

He snaps up to her, his neck hurting at the sudden movement. She reaches to click open the case, and reveals a thin, generic pistol that shines in its newness.

"We never know," she continues, her finger stroking the gun tenderly, "if something like last year might happen again. Don't look at me like that, it might, and we want you to be prepared if it happens."

He gapes at her, quite openly and _afraid_. His mother is strong, he knows this. His mother is _terrifying_ , he knows this.

His mother smiles.

"Next year, we will work on defusing bombs. For now, guns and lock picking, alright?"

 _Just in case_.

Hide feels his constant _war_ with himself may come to an end soon.

He will never give up.

* * *

**027**

**Best friends**

" _I found Sho-_ chan _a playmate, too. I will ship him over when he accepts to give up his life and serve under us in our marshmallow kingdom._ "

"No, thank you."

" _Shouichi-_ san _should accept. I don't think you are having fun, is he, Tsuna-_ kun _?_ "

"He's not, he will skip high school completely at this rate."

"I am in middle school."

" _Third year, anyways. It is time, Sho-_ chan _. Give up. We will treat you well._ "

"That sounds terrifying. I don't want to."

Tsuna finds himself in his room a couple weeks after Hide's birthday fiasco, chatting through the webcam with his two best friends. Shouichi, who is supposed to be at class, is watching over him, who is also supposed to be at class, while Mamma runs her usual errands around town. Bianchi took Lambo on a trip around Midori, stalking Haru, and Hide is at class (hopefully. Three out of three would be bad), so it is only them and they can talk about _anything_.

Daemon is teaching Shouichi flame control, in the usual bored state he is, and Tsuna's favorite babysitter is trying to deny his whole being like he always does (it has become a game, almost. At the end of the day, they would never admit they got along). Enma still looks at the ghost with fear, but he is better than a couple years back. Byakuran, being Byakuran, doesn't care about Daemon's ghostly existence and discusses things like flame theory, world domination and mafia politics with him when he can.

All in all, Tsuna's friends are great.

Byakuran and Enma are the greatest best friends and they keep secrets well, or so they make him believe. He assumes they do, as Tsuna keeps their secrets as well. They are all close to the same age, with Enma being the oldest, then Tsuna, then surprisingly Byakuran (he complains, but then he doesn't because he likes getting spoiled. Besides, he is mentally ancient, even if he acts like a five years old). Somehow, the three of them ended up meeting together in weird circumstances, and things had gone on from there.

Kyoko and Hana are the greatest _girl_ friends, crazy about everything school and cake. He likes them a lot, with their constant nagging and misdirected anger. Hana, specially, has taken to defending him from other people (mostly due to her DC membership, but partly because she can't stand seeing him bullied), and Kyoko is his kitchen partner always. They make the best cookies.

Then there is Shouichi and Haru, though Haru is more Hide's friend than Tsuna's. She likes designing clothes Tsuna will never wear and helping him with his crafts projects. Shouichi is great, with his music and his _cool stuff_ , like the box that is bigger inside than outside, or the shiny balls that absorb energy. All of Shouichi's cool stuff is done for entertainment alone, and he rarely shares it with _anyone_ , except for Daemon who is a Neanderthal when it comes to technology, but has _really good_ and _crazy_ ideas.

" _I heard that, Tsunayoshi."_

" _Daemon-_ san _looks scary like that-_ "

" _Is this what they call a banshee? How do you_ do _that? I have been trying to morph my babies around but they stay dragon!_ "

" _At least dragons are cool, 'kuran-_ kun _. Better than this, cute bear thing._ "

"I think it is a bear. Gravity Teddy Bear, the Third."

" _Why does it take this shape. Why me._ "

"Luck of the Simon-"

" _Shut up!"_

" _If it is any consolation, Cozart could never quite learn to condense the Earth flames. After all-"_

"Elena- _san_ was better at it."

" _Manners, Tsunayoshi."_

" _We are children, Dae-_ san _!_ "

" _Infants."_

All of these infants know perfectly well how useful their flames are and the need to defend themselves. Tsuna, because peaceful, quiet Namimori is hell on earth if you knew where to look; Enma's family has lots of enemies for some reason; Byakuran is a mafia heir. Shouichi had been dragged in by Byakuran and Tsuna, and all of them had decided (more like, forced by Byakuran under threat of marshmallow) to train in the use of flames.

It had been hell. If it wasn't for Daemon taking pity on them and Byakuran being a prodigy, they would be long dead. Flames are cool, but Tsuna also has a lot of other lessons with Daemon: the others have it easy. Specially, Shouichi who skipped school like it was a sport and had gone through Middle school in a year and a half, and Byakuran who is… in a constant vacation.

Byakuran is the only one who can make trips around the world like he does, since he graduated Middle School last year and then dropped out until everyone else caught up. He has taken to sending his dragons with messages (coded carefully in a reverse morse-code along with a cypher, which Tsuna still takes a while to decode) and gifts from wherever he is _looking for playmates for you all!_ Which means, every couple of weeks, the dragons will arrive upsetting the delicate balance between Shouichi and his normal, daily life. Tsuna doesn't care, the dragons are cute and one day he will learn how to give his flames free will.

The first time he had tried to shape his flames and give them _life_ (it had been a flaming bird, which made Daemon laugh. At least it wasn't a snake), he had been knocked out for a whole day afterwards. Enma compressed his flames into whatever came out (a bear, usually) with a single thought after bringing them out: his control was innate and precise, but they flickered out in a few seconds. Byakuran was a prodigy and would be ignored, while Shouichi needed to understand the theory first ('I don't care about using them, just tell me what they can do').

Unfortunately for Shouichi, he is a resident of the part of town dubbed the 'what the hell is happening' district, where the forces of nature were greatly disturbed (or something. Kawahira- _san_ never explains anything in the same day, and Tsuna forgets) and things just didn't make any sense. Just two weeks ago, Tsuna and Hide were stuck in a time distortion. Tsuna's first real meeting with Daemon (in Kyoko's body) had been a few blocks from Shouichi's house, as well as his first meeting with Byakuran's dragons. If he remembered well, his cursed pacifier had come from somewhere in the surroundings, as well.

Things were fun. Even learning how to control flames to _fight_ was fun.

While Tsuna ponders the meaning of his life, Enma continues polishing an antique goblet and Shouichi tries to keep his minuscule flame lit around the stone he is using as focus, Byakuran rolls on his chair and snatches another chocolate-covered marshmallow from his plate. Tsuna doesn't see his eyes going wide, but his delighted coo is more than enough to picture it in his head.

" _Oh, oh, he's here! Sho-_ chan _, drop everything!_ "

"Who is."

" _Your playmate! You will love him._ "

Shouichi sighs, but sits next to Tsuna who nests closer to him. Shouichi is the _best_.

Byakuran moves aside to allow a small-ish, lanky teenager in an overall to take his seat. He has a lollipop stuck between his teeth (probably just holding it there), lazy green eyes and smooth blonde hair. Tsuna feels like sleeping just by looking at him, and Enma seems to share the sentiment. The two past Byakuran's screen exchange a few words in English, which Byakuran is quite good at, and then he is motioning _widely_ with his skewered marshmallow.

" _This here,_ " he says, in Japanese for everyone's sake, " _is Neil Spanner. Call him Spanner, he doesn't like his name._ "

" _Hello, seriously, don't call me Neil; speak to me in Japanese, English or Italian, I will hopefully understand._ " Even his _voice_ sounds lazy, as it is a low and slow drawl that lulls Shouichi to rest his head on Tsuna's shoulder. " _I have heard about you, but I have no idea who you are._ "

It is the start of a beautiful… friendship/rivalry/awkward platonic romance that leaves Shouichi's self esteem diced into cubes, then smashed to dust and buried three meters under meaningful and well meaning dahlias. Definitely the best.

Tsuna needs to thank Byakuran. He will buy marshmallows.

* * *

**028  
**

**Primo**

_fear_

Hidetada knows he is weird. He understood this years ago, and also understood that his family is the source of all the weirdness, since their arrival to the archipelago. He has had years to get used to the idea that people _do not like_ the Sawadas, or really, anyone connected to the founding families (they respect the Hibaris because they rule, but that's all). He has had years, and a whole group of obedient fellow faceless members of the community to help him scare away the nastiest rumors and whispers.

That doesn't mean he got them all. Some people don't know when to quit, particularly those who had met his brother _or_ gone anywhere near old town with him close-by.

_awkward_

He glances at the girl standing next to him, eyes narrowed. The meeting is still going on, with Hibari- _sempai_ leaning back on his chair and allowing Tetsuya- _san_ to drone on and on about budgeting, criminal reports and profiles of wanted individuals. Usual DC member duties, though usually they don't hold meetings about it. It is the ladies' job to deal with communications and desk work, unless they proved their physical ability (and willingness to, if cornered, call for help).

He catches her eyes and _smiles_.

_!_

The girl looks away quickly, blushing brightly. He knows her, she is in his grade, but in another class. Saya or something, cute name, cute looks. Terrible personality. She had asked him out last year (her first year of DC duties, too), but then she had fled the moment Ieyasu- _sama_ swooped in with a sudden wave of _heat family jealousy_ and a sourceless smell of caramel.

She doesn't even _try_ to disguise her… fear? Prejudice? It has been a _year_.

"Kawara Saya."

Ah, that is her name. Kawara, Kawara.

She snaps to attention with a yelp and Hide allows himself to slouch so he can look at the speaker. Hibari- _sempai_ is tapping his fingertips against the head table, looking sleepy, and Tetsu- _san_ is frowning at her in disappointment. The room is suddenly quiet and a heavy pressure falls on everyone's shoulders.

Hide straightens and, if by chance his eyes landed on the clock, it is his position's fault.

"If you are done with your duties, leave." Hibari is rough and puts no tone to his words. He doesn't speak more than necessary, either, which makes him sound like he is permanently angry. "Don't distract your fellow officers."

_hilarity_

He wants to snap at the _warm, warm_ being wrapped around his head, but he can't do that if he wants to keep his hard-earned respect. So, he allows his ancestor to laugh (probably. It is amused and feels like a cheerful person) while leaning on him, and disguises his discomfort by leaning his head on his staff.

Kawara doesn't leave.

"I am nameless and bound to these words," he whispers to himself, letting his awkwardness slip away into Sawada Hidetada, who he isn't as of now. Nameless, faceless. Faceless, nameless. Meeting. Ignore the girl, ignore the rebound of _distaste_ amplified by his ancestor's closeness.

"Tetsuya."

The order is sharp and it makes the room resound with _obedience_. Every single person. Including Hide and the spirit, surprisingly. Weird, wasn't he supposed to be a mafia _boss_?

The meeting drones on.

It takes about an hour for the _crowd_ of Middle schoolers to disperse and leave the Hibari compound. Tetsu _-san_ closes the door of the separate building that serves as Hibari Kyoya's training ground and occasional meeting room, locking up. Hibari himself left a few minutes ago, since he is regent commanding over Hibari senior's team of _somethings_ (lawyers, probably. Hibari- _sama_ is a lawyer).

Middle school prefects are, right now, under Hibari- _sempai_ 's direct command (since he is their classmate), which unfortunately means they _crowd_ around him for meetings occasionally (and everyday, in the morning, to organize themselves). Other divisions report to a representative, who reports back to Tetsu- _san_ and/or his family who answers to the Hibaris. All of them.

Hide wonders to himself how he _didn't see_ that the Disciplinary Commitee wasn't just a school-based organization.

Maybe, since he was raised seeing it, it just became so normal it wasn't something to think about. Housewives gossip, children play and the DC (and associated groups) rules over Namimori.

Hide follows Tetsu- _san_ up the stairs, bows to him and refuses to walk through the main gate, instead leaving through a side door. Ieyasu- _sama_ follows as a steady presence of warmth and caramel, projecting _gratitude_ about his consideration for the gate (it hates that gate, Ieyasu- _sama_ does).

Today, the spirit is surprisingly _loud_. Usually, its presence is either blank or, well, blank. His ancestor has an emotional capacity of two poles: extreme apathy and extreme euphoria, which makes it really hard to communicate with. Oh, also, evade Tsuna. That is an… emotion (it comes to him in waves of _distrust trust love hate_ ) Ieyasu- _sama_ projects often.

Well, maybe he should call it Giotto, now?

Reborn is, of course, waiting for him. He is napping atop Takeshi's head, somehow, while Takeshi himself sits in a meditative position in front of the Asari house.

He deliberately drags his staff on the ground as he approaches them, making noise. Ieyasu- _sama_ follows, trying to get his attention with extensive use of _?_ and _anger_. _I have a question, pay attention to me!_ , or something. It is a rather hyperactive spirit (who hates Tsuna for some reason).

Takeshi smiles and waves, while Reborn gives his trademark 'ciaossu'. He is holding a paper, which was probably in his hand since he was sleeping, the weird baby; the two look like they have been waiting a while and Hide doesn't hold them back.

They go down the hill, chatting amiably with the annoying presence of Giotto di Vongola sticking close to him. It is asking a constant question now, but he doesn't _know_ what the spirit is saying, and he is tired. Reborn wants coffee, he wants coffee and Takeshi probably wants coffee as well. They end up buying three cups of terrible instant coffee at a convenience store and sit down on a bench close by.

Hide feels so _tired_ right now. Tomorrow he is supposed to track down a thief with the help of other DC members (who don't like him, probably), and he also has to study for the upcoming exams, and-

"Hide, question."

"Yes, Reborn?" It is weird that Reborn has questions for him, all things considered. He looks at him, the paper cup warm in his hands, with Ieyasu- _sama_ clinging to his back, and after a disguised yawn waves his hand at him. "Go on."

"This," the baby says as he lifts a paper. Takeshi throws a glance at it from besides Reborn and jerks back, shaking his head furiously and waving 'no' with his arms.

Hide takes the paper.

It is Tetsu- _san_ 's handwriting. Four lines he knows by heart.

_First the weak, then the town. Then the family and our own. Only last will I fend for myself, as I am nameless and bound to these words. By them I pledge myself to be a shield and sword, for those who cannot wield their own._

_I shall protect and defend those who require it, for I can and must. I shall watch and act from the dark, shall receive no praise._

_This is my vow, my word, my will._

_So be it._

He mouths the words to himself out of memory, squeezing the paper in his hand. Reborn had no right- Tetsu- _san_ doesn't just write the words down for fun, so _why_.

(He is seven and knows enough to fear what he is getting into. He is nine when Hibari- _sempai_ recognizes him by name. He is eleven and is backing two Yakuza into an alleyway for Tetsu- _san_. _I shall act from the dark._

He is twelve and he watches a warehouse burn _bang howl_ _?_ He is twelve and his wrists are raw from tight ropes and Tsuna has red eyes from the smoke but they are _safe and alive, so be it, he can't even protect his family._

He is thirteen and tying a red armband to his middle school uniform. _This is my will._ )

Ieyasu- _sama_ is a shivering presence of _recognition pride family longing_ which makes Hide's own heart hurt. A deep, piercing pain he recognizes as _hope_ and _loneliness_ that he associates with Tsuna, _the copy is probably for_ _Tsuna he has to hide it burn it make it disappear_.

_They have no right._

"So, Hide, explain to me." Reborn was probably speaking for a while but Hide isn't listening. He is _so angry_ , _so furious_ he almost misses the soft whisper coming from the vague direction of Ieyasu- _sama_ 's presence.

' _-laude, it is-'_

"Explain to me why your school club knows about Primo's Cloud's oath of the Vongola."

* * *

**Sky interlude**

_**ryuu** _

He is seven, and he has met the Gods.

They are two. Two long, flaming shapes of monochrome, curled around him and with their jaws clamped firmly around Hotaru- _sensei_ 's flowers. Their tails nudged at him ahead and their tiny feet were holding on to his cursed pacifier. If it hadn't been for that, he would have abandoned the flowers (they weren't expensive) and left.

The Gods held his life in their claws.

He shudders at the realization, feeling the tightly wrapped _being_ inside his heart constrict. With all three supernaturals surrounding him, he is trapped and forced to follow the Gods' intended direction.

He had welcomed Ghost- _san_ in after last night, but that didn't meant he had to get used to it: the presence was overwhelming, painful, _tainted_ with hatred and darkness. He wanted nothing more than to quit, let it possess someone else, but he had _promised_.

_Never deny a plead you feel you can fulfill._

* * *

The Gods lead him to a white-haired boy with dull purple eyes. A bruise is forming in his cheek and around his neck, but he is smiling at something in his hand. He _feels_ ancient, alive and powerful, and Tsuna believes he will see tails and ears sprouting from him.

(In the end, what sprouts are wings.)

* * *

 _God_.

The black God curls up around the boy's shoulder and his flowers rot slightly. The white God wraps tighter around Tsuna and his flowers seem to glow.

 _Gods_.

Here he is, surrounded by Gods and a vengeful spirit nested in himself, and he doesn't feel brave enough to give the final step.

* * *

"Tsu... nayoshi?"

The humanoid God blinks at him, eyes wide and _alive_. He stands up quickly, too quickly, and walks the distance to join Tsuna's side. His hands (cold, cold yet familiar) clamp around his shoulders, and God looks frantic and _lost_.

The _being_ snaps at God, like a snake attacking, and Tsuna loses his balance.

"Tsunayoshi? I thought I was alone, how-"

God is talking, speaking to him _he knows his name_ and Tsuna drops to his knees, breathing hard at the sheer _presence_ that is... everything. God, the monochrome Gods, the _being_ inside him and the _future, the dark future he doesn't want to see-_

"Tsunayoshi!"

* * *

"Byakuran Gesso," God introduces himself, smiling behind his ice cream. They are sitting in a small café, private, dusk-lit and comfortable twin monochrome Gods gone for the moment. "I thought you would be-"

" _Dead_."

God gives him a sad smile and Tsuna promises, there and in that moment, he will never, _never_ see that expression in his face again.

* * *

He is not a God, but he certainly acts like one. He is younger than Tsuna, quiet and small, and he _glows_ with each laughter and each smile. He looks lost yet found, dead and resurrected, and Tsuna discovers he may be in love.

Again.

And again.

* * *

"I'm looking for the owner of this," Go- _Byakuran_ says, revealing a ring with a bright, yellow stone and closed wings around it. He is wearing a match, orange and with its wings spread open. "He lives around here."

Tsuna gladly agrees to help him when the _being_ inside him uncoils and whispers, smiling for the first time.

Byakuran grins and hugs him, and Tsuna finds weightlessness familiar. The Sky is _home_.

* * *

Byakuran is home.

* * *

(Eight years later, he will hold Byakuran, he will hold Enma's hand, and they will promise to _never give up_.)

* * *

**Sky interlude**

**spoils of war**

**v2**

Every year, the thirteenth of September turns into some kind of shed. Ever since he turned seven, beaten to the dirt by his own cousin and snatched away to swear his life for Namimori, he has come to accept he will never, ever be able to have a normal birthday.

Tsuna is similar. His mother, as well. Grandfather, occasionally. They all seem to be cursed in some way or another, all generations, be it to suffer through unexplained possessions by a crowd of vengeful spirits who all want different things (Tsuna's seventh birthday was a mess), to suddenly be called back to work for an extremely worrisome case (Mamma hadn't come back in a month and, when she did, it was with dull eyes and a cold smile). Father, Iemitsu, is never home for his birthday, and Hide wonders if he goes through weird, traumatizing or spiritual situations in the day of his birth.

Last year, Hide had gotten involved with a kidnapper. One time helping a stranger and he wakes up a couple hours later tied up and being threatened to tell them where the Namimori treasure was. Like it was the middle ages, or something. Namimori has no hidden treasure stories, but it does have stories of dormant deities hiding between humanity, giant beasts who fight for the sea and the sky, and a group of cultists who believe Sasagawa Ryohei is the new coming of their prophet.

Never trust strangers again. Who knows what they can do.

This year, he killed someone.

Well, it was a fake death, but he was still shocked. Shocked enough to shut down his emotions and plan far enough into the future so he wouldn't be caught. Shocked enough that, even now, Tsuna is curled up next to him, hands tight around his shirt.

_Happy birthday, Hidetada._

Asides from the whole _killing someone_ thing, it had been a good birthday. No people whispering behind their backs because of Tsuna's mere existence, no children pointing and laughing at the _forgotten_ _child of old town_ , no housewives asking where Iemitsu was, at all. It had been a miracle. Only his family, Takeshi, Takeshi's father, Haru and the people currently involved in his life had appeared: Gokudera, Bianchi, Lambo, Reborn.

Four new people to share his _cursed_ birthday with.

Joy.

They had gone to the arcade, to the hospital and then Haru insisted on buying them a giant cake, which they ate at Takesushi after a good, traditional Japanese dinner.

Through the whole day, like every year, random presences with good intentions had come near him, to brush his shoulder or head and leave. The spirit with the warm, too warm presence that reminded Hide of Tsuna, of Grandfather, of _history_ , had lingered for a while longer, far from Tsuna and clinging to Hide. It had done something to the brooch he had in his pocket (to thank Kusakabe- _sensei_ and Grandfather for it) and then left.

Ieyasu- _sama_ was a great ancestor. His yearly blessings by the ancestors of Namimori had come around since he was two, and maybe they didn't help at all, but he was glad to be liked by the old people. Tomorrow, he will visit them all as thanks.

Asides from the blessings, he had gotten an antique locket and jewellery box from Tsuna. His reasoning was something like 'all heads of the family should have somewhere safe to put their accessories', which he didn't believe at all. But, well, Tsuna is a hoarder of the highest level and he sees everything as strays to bring home. Cats. Weaponized dogs and their crazy owners. Jewellery with no owner. Children from overseas with _weird_ eyes and cryptic speech who hate him, and children from another town with _crosses_ in their eyes. And spirits, of course. Cannot forget the one spirit who always, always follows Tsuna home.

Said spirit hadn't given his blessing, but it never did, so Hide doesn't care. Instead, a tiny blank journal had appeared under his wind bell when they came back from dinner. _do not worry on the How, worry on the Why_ , it said (he didn't bother to try and decipher the jerk's messages any longer. They were all riddles at this point).

Irie Shouichi had shown up around midday, thrown _yet another_ mechanical pencil at him and left with Tsuna on tow. Ah, yes, he has lived so long, just to finish gathering these mechanical pencils which join at the ends. He has three right now, so he joins them together and puts them with his staves.

It looks absolutely ridiculous, so Tsuna loves them. It is perfect.

Takeshi had gotten him a wind bell, which he hung from the lamp screen. Gokudera had put on a small fireworks show, which Haru loved (she was now interested in pyrotechnics), and Bianchi had been forbidden from cooking so she and Reborn gifted him with a switchblade knife.

His gifts got progressively weirder through the day ('it is because you are Vongola Decimo, and a Vongola style birthday is always extravagant', Reborn said), from the mystery books his maternal grandparents had sent to the sudden battle challenge from Tetsu- _san_.

And then, there was Mamma.

The absolute weirdest gift of the day.

He has managed to live fourteen years in a crazy town (technically, thirteen). He has gone a long time blind to his Father's job, but apparently, he has lived long enough for his mother to teach him to wield a gun.

 _"I think it is about time you learn to fire a gun,"_ she had said after everyone had gone to their houses, offering him a sealed box. _"Handguns. They never fail. It is semi-automatic, too. Standard detective weapon. Next year, we are deactivating timed bombs."_

And then, she taught him how to wield a gun.

He has been at war with this city for years and he survived.

He will keep on living.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really want to introduce Fuuta, okay (one chapter to go, yes, woohoo). Getting these out of the file is a good means of making me write faster. I just had to get the Alaude-ness out of there, soon.
> 
> In my notes, Hide's shorthand is 13 (hi, as in one; de, which I can't stop seeing as 3). If you google birthday horoscopes, you could look up Hide and Tsuna. It is amazing. Hide's unbirthday episode is gigantic because the next important event is Spanner's introduction, which happens a while later. I didn't want to shove Reborn and Tsuna's birthdays in here either, so.
> 
> Tsuna isn't the only creepy kid in town, Hide. Stop being in denial.
> 
> Byakuran and Tsuna have a loving relationship built on the fact they are both freaks of life. Enma joined in, since he is also a freak of life. Asexual romantic 1002700 is definite corrupt the sky canon, ignore this if you want.
> 
> See you next week!


	7. backwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is super early because of various reasons. Warnings for half-assed episodes, featuring Ietsuna, a baby Simon and a tiny Sun. Also, (redacted).

**029**

**Break**

A few days before Tsuna's birthday finds the Sawada brothers playing _shogi_ against an amused and lucid Grandfather. Sawada Ietsuna is a frail, thin man connected to tubes and machines, in a permanent state of drug-induced slowness. He has almost translucent skin and white hair that falls to his shoulders in messy and dirty waves, wrinkly blue eyes dulled by age and a clearly foreign face that would have been handsome in the past.

Hide loves their old man.

Though the drugs make him _slow_ and often slightly mad, Ietsuna holds himself with an air of superiority and regalness inherited through the family that he rarely sees in himself or Tsuna. He assumes it is because of how he was raised, but he is currently being trained to be a mafia boss and he can't see himself acting in anyways like the old king their grandfather is. Maybe Tsuna, but Tsuna is Tsuna.

As of now, they are losing. Or well, Tsuna is losing, as Hide lost the pace a few moves ago. He would have already left had Grandfather not told him they needed to talk. Unfortunately, a match with Tsuna can go for hours and Reborn is getting impatient.

"Come get me some coffee."

See? Impatient.

Hide stands and, with Reborn held in his arms, leaves the room as quietly as possible. He is sure that, when they return, the game will not have moved at all... or they would have thrown the board to the floor in frustration. It happens. Tsunayoshi and Ietsuna have similar personalities and don't like to lose.

By the coffee machine is a nurse.

Sasagawa Michiko, Ryohei- _sempai_ and Kyoko's mother, is a woman who is rarely at home. She went to school out of Namimori (amazingly) and her skills where needed at the hospital, so the Sasagawa siblings accepted the lack of a mother's presence through the day as well as Hide accepted his eternal lack of a father. She is quite tall and beautiful, and Tsuna loves her cookies.

"Good afternoon, Sasagawa- _san_ ," he greets, getting three cups for their coffee and presses for two espressos and a capuccino. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Hide- _kun_ is always on time." She smiles and takes the offered cup with a thanks. "Sawada- _san_ has been better these past months."

"He has." He sits beside her, letting Reborn have his coffee and ignoring the worried glance from the nurse. A baby drinking coffee is dangerous. "We owe his health to you, thank you."

"It is my job~," she giggles. Hide can see where Kyoko got her personality from. "Please don't tire him too much, he has an appointment in a few hours."

They share an easy and short conversation in Reborn's silence, commenting on school and some dangers on the eastern side of Namimori. It takes her a few minutes to finish her coffee and bid her farewells, after which Hide and Reborn make their silent way to Grandfather's room.

" _-e CEDEF, though._ "

Reborn motions for him to stop. Though annoyed, Hide obeys, sitting outside the door and listening in to whatever is going on. He feels terrible about eavesdropping, but Reborn would shoot him if he didn't, since he is the spawn of hell. The mood coming from the room seems somber, and if it wasn't for the lack of any kind of _thing_ near, Hide would believe ghosts to be involved.

" _I really don't care about them._ "

" _It is family business, Tsunayoshi. You will meet him soon, probably, and when that happens it is better if you-_ "

" _I don't want to speak with him._ "

" _...neither do I, but he is your father, and my son, and he deserves a little recognition._ "

" _He_ became a star _anyways. For all I know, he is supposed to be dead._ "

" _Is that really what he- Iemitsu!_ "

" _He did!_ "

Hide is ready to get up and reveal himself, but Reborn holds a finger up. The mood inside seems deadly, pure _anger_ radiating from the elder. It is so heavy Hide feels like running, like breaking the tension, but he also doesn't want to interrupt _now_. They are talking about his _father_ and the _family business_ , and Hide doesn't want Tsuna to know about the mafia.

" _...I give up._ "

" _Finally!_ " The sound of small pieces and a foldable board hitting the ground makes Hide flinch. " _Now tell me about your meeting with the Kokuyo guardian._ "

" _It tried to peck my eyes out!_ "

" _Yes, well, it is probably hungry._ "

The conversation dissolves into the best ways to deal with a local deity who hasn't been fed in decades (' _offer it a corpse._ ' ' _Dearest grandfather, would you like to be offered to a god bird._ ') and Hide has to muffle his laughter. Sawada Ietsuna was a folklorist, the only one in their family line who truly focused in the study of the legends behind Namimori. He was supposed to have an _objective_ approach to the supernatural, but here he was talking about how to calm an offended spirit.

He stands and, ignoring Reborn's silent protests, walks into the room.

"Hide! Would you like to learn how to summon _shikigami_?"

"We are _not_ summoning _shikigami_!"

Hide can't help it. His family is _too ridiculous_.

He bursts into laughter.

* * *

**030**

**Kozato Enma**

"Decimo, must we really go pick up this kid?" Gokudera asks for what seems to be the fourth time in the past six minutes. His cigarettes are gone, and Hide had banned him from smoking for the length of the short trip to the bus stop.

"It is important he doesn't go missing," answers Hide, looking down at his phone. They are on time, though, so Reborn doesn't understand why he is _so worried_ about the time. "We should probably get him something to drink…"

"Who _is_ him, anyways?"

"Tsuna's clone, red version."

Reborn hums to himself, making himself comfortable on Yamamoto's arms. Gokudera is walking to the other side of Hide, so his grumbling and quiet protesting don't bother him too much _right now_. It had been annoying before they had left the house, and it had been annoying all through the week since he was forced to go to school when Hide wasn't there.

It is now the fifth day of Hide's suspension from school, which means tomorrow he can go back to class and to his club duties. He had been surprisingly _troubled_ by not being allowed to patrol or go after rule-breaking loiterers, but didn't care much about the learning part of his tasks. Reborn had spent the past week drilling him on _yet_ more mafia history, while Gokudera and Yamamoto brought back notes and homework.

Since Hide hadn't been going to school, neither did Tsuna. And, since neither was going anywhere because of their aversion to people, Reborn realized something interesting.

Apparently, neither of the Sawada brothers is used to be in close quarters with the other for longer than a few hours at a time. They share a house floor and a dining room, but rarely entered each other's rooms unless previously invited. They interact like the best of siblings, the maybe-half-and-hour a day they actually speak to each other, but the remaining time they are content to leaving each other to their own devices or be in a mutual space in absolute silence (but not for long).

The sibling bond, after the second day of _not leaving_ , had gone down harshly. Hide had become snappish, gloomy and, if Reborn believed it, almost murderous. He had gone into a training spree that day that left him knocked out in the end, only to wake up in a foul, aggressive mood. It had reached a point Yamamoto had ended up yelling at him to _calm down_ , with Gokudera and Reborn being equally confused about the sudden change of personality.

Tsunayoshi, for his part, had spent the last few days locked up in his room, taking his meals upstairs and talking in short and politely aggressive sentences whenever he had to. The air around him felt _heavy_ , strained and constricting, and Reborn had to wonder about that. The girls, Kyoko and Hana, stopped visiting until he _got himself together_.

Nana had ignored it, saying it happens for breaks as well. She calls it _rebound_ , and no matter how many times Reborn asks for her to explain, she just smiles and shushes him.

The brothers love and trust each other to a fault, and cannot see each other's wrongdoings, but for some reason, they are forced to distance themselves from the other. He understands now why prefers to Hide stay on Hibari Kyoya's good side, and why he wouldn't want Tsunayoshi involved, either. Disappointing the tyrant meant detention and questioning, suspension; for Tsunayoshi to be brought into the DC, considering Hibari's obsession with him, would mean the brothers would be in each other's presence for longer than needed.

They arrive the bus stop just in time, and Reborn gets his first impression of the one named Kozato Enma.

He is a small child, taller than Tsunayoshi, but definitely shorter than he should be at his age. He has dark, red hair and matching eyes with slitted pupils, is dressed in black and red and has some light chains attached to his clothes and sleeves, for some reason. He has a bag hanging from his shoulder and is toying with a Rubik's cube on what seems to be memory alone, since he is looking around the street with a lost gaze.

He has an aura of dread and gloom that Reborn doesn't like, at all. He has the feeling this is a child who could, and would, murder a person in cold blood with the same blank, lost look in his face. He gives off a familiar feeling that puts Reborn in his guard.

 _Skull_.

Something familiar. Someone he can't trust at all, but can tease because he _knows_ they will never do anything to him. A constant smile and too many earrings. A heart that doesn't beat and never did.

"Enma- _kun,_ " Hide greets, nodding his head a little. The boy looks up at him and gives him a bright smile as his pupils seem to spin around. "Did you have a nice trip?"

"It was acceptable," the boy replies, in an almost whisper. There is _no_ intonation in his voice and his hands keep rolling the Rubik's cube around even as he steps up to Hide. "Thanks for the invitation."

Hide shrugs and, taking Enma's hand, motions to them. A quick round of introductions later has them all walking back to the Sawada house, even as Reborn tries to get further from him in Yamamoto's arms. Enma is the same as Tsuna, someone that makes _him_ uneasy, makes him feel too young, someone who smiles at him and pats his head before stabbing him in the chest.

 _Skull_.

( _"You missed, haha._ You _missed!,"_ but he knows he didn't, he saw the shocked eyes as the bullet went in and out from his heart heard the sound of his head cracking and seen the dead eyes looking up at him _Skull is gone not coming back you failed_ -)

He is brought back from his memories by Hide taking him from Yamamoto's arms.

"Sorry, but we need to make a detour. Can you take Enma- _kun_ home?"

Hide doesn't wait for an answer, just taking off with Reborn in silence. Past the bridge, down the stairs, next the river where he puts Reborn down and sits besides him.

_Skull is dead-_

"I did say," Hide whispers, not looking at him at all, "that he is Tsuna's clone."

His mind is a mess of scattered memories and thoughts, but his mind clicks on the fact that Tsuna, _Sawada Tsunayoshi_ has the same, the very same air of dread around him. The air of defeat and _hope_ and _kinship-_

_Luce._

* * *

**Sky interlude**

**sight**

Enma sits next to him, the giant book in his hands and Daemon leaning over his shoulder, pointing at the most interesting parts. It is an adorable sight that makes Tsuna realize the world is upside down and nothing is normal anymore.

Nothing was ever normal.

Not since he was two or three, maybe not since he was born since he wasn't really-

 _cold cold loud screams loud laughter why are you doing this why is all of this void void are we going to why is the wORLD SHAKING SO M_ _**UCH HELP ME HELP U-** _

"TSUNA!"

It is Enma's hand.

He feels Daemon shoving everything back into his mind, quickly, desperate _so scared_ and feels light, relaxed, empty; empty enough to be able to reach for Enma's hand and kiss his finger without embarrassment ( _will you help me take_ _ **over the-**_ ).

"Tsuna- _kun._ Are you alright?"

He wants to shake his head, but only manages to lean into Enma and cry.

* * *

Mamma calls him down before they go to bed.

She is washing the dishes and whistling along to the soft tune coming from the radio. He recognizes it, vaguely, as his parents' wedding song's instrumental: a melody he knows by memory and heart and has tried to play in the piano for his mother a few times.

_-love, you should practice some more-_

He sucks at playing the piano. What made him think he can?

_elenaelenaelena_

"Tsu- _kun_!" She turns to him, a wide smile in her lips and with eyes sharp like a lynx. Scary, terrifying huntress, protector and caretaker _elena_. _**Get out of my memories**_ _,_ Daemon yells from the back, and he comes back to earth. "I am sorry we couldn't do anything for your tenth birthday."

Ah, of course. It is his birthday, that's why Enma is up in his room and not back in Kyushu (exactly two towns away. No one said it was in the same island). That's why a dragon arrived today with a bouquet of flowers and a picture of Byakuran sitting with an albino lion ( _we are your gift!_ , it said, and it was so ridiculous he had to smile). That's why Hide had gotten him a shiny stone that didn't do anything else except be shiny (Hide knows him well).

He feels so weird at forgetting his own birthday, but does it really matter if he isn't-

"It's okay," he says, feeling heavy. His head feels heavy _like lead and stone and liquid petroleum spilling from his nose his ears his mouth so disgusting-_ "I really don't-"

He feels like coughing and choking and _he needs his life back_.

"Come on, Tsu- _kun_. Tell me if you want anything."

Where did he leave his _life_? _Daemon, where are you-_

 _ **Calm down**_ **,** says someone in his head, and he relaxes bit by bit as his emotions are shoved _away and locked up_ orange and indigo and black mixing together around his head his thoughts his _memories-_

_**Will you be okay?** _

_Why is it so bad, today?_ He doesn't know, how _long_ has it been already?

 _the world is breaking under his feet where were you where were you_ _**tsunayoshi** _

"Tsu- _kun_?"

He snaps out of the future and looks at warm warm eyes that hold his heart and life and he is back, even if just for a while.

His mother is getting worried, he hasn't given an answer, has he? Well, what _does_ he want for his birthday? A real life? Permission to suicide? The world not wrong and _tainted and-_

_Stars_

"Ah," he realizes suddenly there is something wrong with this set up. "Can we get a bed?"

_Eyes as stars and stars in a scarf black and gold and shines like the sun_

"Bed?" Mamma laughs, quietly. "Is Enma- _kun_ staying with us? Or is your bed not enough."

"Ah, no." Tsuna twiddles his thumbs. His bed is as tall as it is wide and serves as storage for all the things Daemon brings home, so he doesn't plan to give it up. Enma loves his family and isn't planning on moving out until he turns seventy and has three grandchildren to take care of him. Maybe- "Just, lots of people are living here now, I just…"

_A double barrel pistol hidden in the desk black ring black box black and gold_

"You want a roommate?"

Why does his mother sound so surprised? It is true he doesn't let many people into his room, but...

"Hm, maybe?"

Mamma hums, cutting off the water. She seems tired all of sudden and Tsuna can see her thinking too much about his words. Why won't they accept that he may actually _want_ to interact with people?

Not that he does. He only needs ten people in his life, and he has met a half of them.

The silence is overbearing.

"Well, we do need to get Lambo- _kun_ a bed, too," she finally says, a few minutes of searching his eyes for an answer. She goes back to washing the dishes as if nothing had happened. "We will go next week."

_-number one international informant, you kno-_

Tsuna smiles.

* * *

**031**

**_E_ yes**

"An assassin?"

The question is more a statement than a question, and Sawada Hidetada knows that. He also knows how much Hibari Kyoya hates questions, so he understands the need for his younger officer to go through such lengths for him.

"Their name is I-pin," he says, looking through his paper for the photo the Neighbourhood Watch (Western) had posted in the Committee's board. It is a blurry photo, but the shape of a small child with braids can be seen in it. The clothes they wear is also quite recognizable for him, as _that man_ wears the same design. "They were spotted in western Namimori, asking too many questions."

"You want me to find them?" Again, same intonation, same statement-like question. Kyoya doesn't need to nod to it, since Hidetada is already taking the papers (photo and profile) in his hand. "Understood."

"Rumours are, they are looking for someone from the old clan."

"I will be careful."

The door closes behind Hidetada and Tetsuya, and Kyoya is left alone to think. I-pin is here, and with them they will probably have a few days of madness. He will have to send in people to keep watch over the old clan's heirs (Hidetada, Tetsuya and himself can take care of themselves, but Yamamoto Takeshi and Miura Haru are not strong enough to fend off an assassin. And then there is Tsunayoshi, and the one at-), but he can do that later. For now, he needs to focus on what matters.

There is something troubling him. He is getting anxious about the baby carnivores invading his town.

He trusts Kusakabe Tetsuya: it is a family bond forged through decades and that, until now, continued strongly. He also trusts Sawada Hidetada: one of his most hard-working officers, who believed in the DC code with all his heart. He had never, ever known of Hidetada breaking the code unless it is to protect Tsunayoshi, and even that is rare (Tsunayoshi has the Kurokawa and Sasagawa girls), and last week the boy had suddenly come to him with questions.

_"What exactly is the DC?"_

Hidetada would never question Kyoya, that he knows. Though to this moment, he is the only one of the old clan's children to know about their town and situation, he believes that everyone else have at least a small understanding of the dangers _outside_ the town, and what could happen would they leave Namimori. If not, then people have been neglecting their duties (he can see Sawada Iemitsu being one of them) and Kyoya doesn't want to find himself in trouble because of it.

Still, for Hidetada to _ask questions_ , then there must be someone in a higher rank than Kyoya himself who wants to know about the town. Someone who would not know what the true purpose of Namimori is (and, even if Kyoya doesn't believe in the supernatural himself, he has seen too many weird things to not believe _something weird_ is happening), who would be interested in it _and_ who would be in a situation as to put the Sawada family under their command.

Asides from the increased number of outsiders coming into town, which by itself is troublesome enough, there seem to be people _prying_. _Prying_ about their duty, their mission and their ideals. And he suspects who it is: the baby carnivore is the only outsider near the Sawada family with enough strength to do something like this.

He will _not_ have curious people in Namimori.

Out of the baby carnivores, he has met Reborn twice. Once he had been spying on his school and Midori (and on _that_ place, but whatever was shown was fake anyways, so he need not worry), acting like he had any right to do so. The other time... was when Hidetada _killed_ that man. Almost. Fake-killed.

Hidetada hadn't shown his feelings about it, but Kyoya knows that was a shock. His first kill was no easy work, either, and had he been weaker he would probably still have nightmares. Can he expect Hidetada to grow into a real carnivore?

No matter what, he wants to see what will happen.

The second baby carnivore (the red one), is _that man. He_ takes pride of his _children_ , all abandoned under the age of fifteen with at least a dozen kills in their hands. _He_ treasures them, as much as Kyoya treasures his duty. That _he_ is sending one over to Namimori means _he_ is either serious (for once), or wishes to make a statement, and he doesn't know which option is worse.

He has two too many Nami-born children taken away by _that man_ , and he feels disgusted by it. As if the dealings of that _other_ place weren't ugly enough, now he will have to watch out for kidnapped children, or who knows what else.

He can't really say anything, can he? His favorite not-quite-carnivore was also a child, claws and fangs hidden and true strength _not yet there_ , but growing. And the pace he would grow would probably be faster than Hidetada or Yamamoto Takeshi, maybe even faster than Kyoya himself.

He had been _promised_ Sawada Tsunayoshi, damn it.

The phone rings with the chime of a bell, breaking his musing. Though he picks up, it takes a word from the other person for him to want to hang up.

Sweet. Loving. _Deadly_.

" _Heetai, Kyoya._ "

" _Anmaa_." As much as he loves his mother, he can't speak _shuri-ben_ to save his life, so he quickly switches to standard Japanese. Why can't she just speak Min when talking to him has always been his wonder. "It has been a while."

His mother has always been an interesting person, if not a little crazy. Her strange wanderlust had resulted in Kyoya being mostly raised by his father, with bi-monthly training sessions with her or her brother. Though, he didn't mind. Hibari Mei Li was a crazy woman at her best moments, and completely intolerable at her worst.

" _Kyo-_ san _is always so cold with this one. A little respect would be nice._ "

"Apologies, but I am dealing with Uncle's madness as of now."

" _I heard about that; I-pin, was it? She is a cute girl, a true darling. Too bad her parents never wanted anything to do with her._ "

So the child was a girl? Nevermind still: "We will not take her in."

" _Then I know someone who will._ "

* * *

**032**

**I-pin**

True to Sawada tradition, I-pin (a Chinese assassin sent here after the Shiraishi sibli- girl, not that Nana is supposed to know) had been invited into the family and given a room without a care for the world. The third room in the second floor is finally occupied, with Lambo and I-pin having bunk beds that are way too big for them. They had gone to purchase them (and Tsuna's new bed, only Earth knew why he wanted it) last afternoon, after Hide had brought back the shivering, dew-covered Chinese child back from the borders of Kokuyo.

She doesn't even ask what a child like I-pin was doing in Kokuyo. Not her business, and definitely not anyone's else.

Of course, all of Tsuna's and Hide's childhood toys had to be taken out of the now-habitable storage room, and the two brothers are currently on the floor of the sitting room, going through them for whatever is worth keeping. It is in this small task that Nana finds them, Tsuna throwing cards and small stones at Hide's head while her older son blocks with a drawing board.

She smiles. She has missed seeing them like this, so happy a cheerful. No weights on their shoulders, no invisible beings putting strain in their minds: just a pair of brothers having fun with each other. Not that they don't, but it is rare. Really, really rare.

The room also has four other people who Nana can't seem to get out of her house. Well, she _is_ a Sawada by marriage, and the high child mortality rate in Iemitsu's family had lead them to be awfully nice to outside children. Not that she minds having just _two_ children, but she always saw herself as a woman with a big family. She had been raised with five siblings of different ages and temperaments, so she didn't quite understand what was wrong with the Sawada's reluctance to have bigger families.

Artificial insemination, surrogate mothers, _anything_ could have helped the family have more children. Didn't they use to believe in polygamy? Why was there only one Sawada family line in existence?

At times she wonders, had she married a man she chose herself, would she have been able to have more children? She was chosen, though. Iemitsu is a good husband and treats her well, but she always wanted more than two children. Maybe a little girl to spoil and dress in cute clothes, that would have been good. She likes dressing up Tsuna, but it is not the same.

Out of the _adopted_ children of the house, only two are actual children. Bianchi is slowly becoming more of a friend than a child, considering their ages, and Renato is... well, he is Renato. Renato sitting in her sitting room, drinking coffee like it is the most normal thing in the world. Has he recognized her? Has he decided she is not worth it?

How fun life is. Years chasing a man, and when he is delivered to her doorstep, she can't do anything. _You are not part of the brigade any longer, Nana_. It makes her so mad, but well, no one forced her to marry into the mafia.

Lambo is an adorable child, even if he _is_ mafia. The guns and weapons in his bag, and hidden in the black hole that is his hair are quite telling of his true affiliation. She hopes he will repay care with care and will not bring the Bovino down on her house. She _could_ defend herself, but if she also had to defend Tsuna and Hide, her chances of victory went lower than she is comfortable with.

I-pin, now, is a mystery. Although Nana recognizes the style of clothing and manners, she can't quite put her finger on what is wrong with the child. Triads, one of the tens of apprentices of the Storm Dragon, but there is something... more. Something she can't quite recognize. Maybe it is that she can't tell I-pin's gender at first sight? Or that she can barely understand what they say?

Now, with the two children in her home, she feels a little more like a mother, though. She can worry about the mafia and hitmen living with her later.

 **BOOM**!

She doesn't flinch at the explosion, though the pink smoke is making her doubt. Pink smoke, she had seen that before, somewhere. The day when Lambo arrived. A pink bazooka, Reborn had mentioned time travel. The smoke is surrounding both I-pin and Lambo, and didn't catch either of her blood sons.

"LAMBO, YOU JERK!"

The yell comes from a high, boyish voice, with a hint of _rawness_ that makes her uneasy. She reaches for the hidden gun in the cupboard- but Renato is looking at her, so she has to drop it. Both him and Bianchi have already reacted, anyways, and Hide has pulled Tsuna away from the explosion, so maybe she need not worry.

The boy is tall, gangly, covered in a pristine laboratory coat with pockets full of _something_. His hair is curly, a little long, and he has emerald green eyes that sparkle with lightning. He slouches, lazily, hands in his slacks' pockets, and he gives her a sense of ease and recognition.

_Lambo._

"Romeo...!" Bianchi snaps up, the previously healthy mug of Renato's turning into a purple, deadly concoction. She is held back by the baby, who rests a hand on her wrist and contemplates the situation.

The girl is... I-pin, she guesses. She has long, braided hair and is wearing glasses, a white apron and slippers. There is a small, black sphere in her hand ( _smoke bomb_ , she identifies) and pointing at the teenage Lambo with a pair of chopsticks. Her chest is completely flat and she has carefully trimmed sideburns.

Ah. There it is, she is a girl, but her body is not. Nana can deal with this. She will schedule an appointment for the optometrist and a psychologist for sometime next month.

"I-pin, sweet sister mine-," teenage Lambo starts, stepping back with care and worry. He trips over Tsuna's old chess set, making him go sprawling on his back and dropping the candy in his pockets. Tsuna, of course, immediately reaches to help him.

The action is immediate.

One of the chopsticks pierces near Tsuna's feet, forcing him to jump back with a yelp; Lambo's hand is suddenly holding what she recognizes as a tazer gun (from where?) and he is giving a _terrified_ look at her son. Hide has reached for the toy staff in his pile of childhood things, standing defensively besides Tsuna.

I-pin is already twirling the second chopstick, ready to shoot it, when Renato interferes.

"I-pin, I guess?"

"Reborn- _san_ ," she replies, giving him a small nod of acknowledgment without letting her gaze stray from Tsuna. Her form is ready to spring and attack, and Nana can _feel_ the simmering heat piling up under Tsuna's hands. "I apologize for my interruption, but-"

"Nothing to be done about it," teenage Lambo drawls. He seems to be ignoring Tsuna and Hide, instead slowly moving to where the pink bazooka is resting next to I-pin. "I should break this thing... So troublesome..."

I-pin seems to agree, kicking the bazooka over to Lambo's hands. Her stance doesn't drop, but she seems to be more relaxed at having the boy close to herself; when he is in range and has the bazooka in his hand, she grabs his arm tightly and pulls them back into a corner. Her back is against the wall and her non-chopstick wielding hand wraps around Lambo's waist in a protective hold.

It is an adorable sight, if the two weren't also human weapons of mass destruction. Why, why does the mafia insist on having _children_ do their dirty work?

Why Lambo? Why Hide? Why I-pin?

 _Why_?

She feels, more than sees, Renato's bullet flying past her sitting room, one hitting I-pin, the other Lambo. The two are knocked unconscious, thin needles piercing their fingers with a sleep agent strong enough to knock out an elephant. Rough, but efficient.

"Mamma," the baby looks at him, an apologetic expression in his face. "Sorry for the disturbance."

"Arara, Reborn- _kun_ doesn't have to apologize."

She wishes he did, though. Honestly, instead of a faked apology out of sense of duty.

* * *

**033**

**Dino**

"You're late."

" _Geez, Reborn-_ sensei _, a greeting would be nice._ "

" _Dame_ -Dino."

" _Yes, yes. I'm late, sorry, but you see, I have my reasons!_ "

"Speak."

" _Alright, alright! Look, we are staying in Sukumo right now. Any chance you can drop by, say hi to your student? I'll treat you to something-_ "

"Dino."

" _Ah, geez, okay. So, we have been asking around for the road to Namimori, but either it is a really small town or people just don't know about it? Because, no matter who we ask, we get told that there is no such place as Namimori in Kochi._

 _"Romario has been asking in nearby towns as well and, well, there is nothing. Not even the map tells us where we are supposed to go and, when we followed your directions, we reached the coast. Everyone is saying you are joking around, but you don't joke like this and it has been a really weird week._ "

"...you are in Sukumo, you said?"

" _Yes, yes, but there are no buses or tour guides into a place known as Namimori. We have some citizen word of people who have moved from there, but when we tried to find them, they weren't anywhere. Like they have been erased from the earth or something! And there was even a guy who looked terrified and started crying in front of us!_

" _I'm not sure what is going on, really. We tried to contact the number you gave us, but it either sends us to voicemail or simply doesn't exist; I have tried to contact Sawada, as well, but it is like something out there doesn't want us to talk to him! He has been busy all week, and you know how Sawada is, there is no_ way _he is as busy as they say!_ "

"True. So, you are absolutely sure...?"

" _Completely. I think you will need to come for us, if you want us to get there- ah, not now, though, we have to be back in Sicily in a couple days for a meeting and I doubt you want me to video-conference the Tomaso._ "

"No, that's okay. Call me when you get back and I will... try to do something."

" _...thank you, Reborn. Give my regards to th-_ "

"Dino? Oi, _dame_ -Dino, what-"

**"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable."**

"...tch."

* * *

High up in the mountains near Namimori, a man smiles.

"Sorry, Master Chiavarone, but you will have to wait."

He crushes the small device in his hands and, after throwing it to the deep river, starts making the treck back home.

* * *

**(redacted) interlude**

**_dearest_ brother**

_Cold_. _It is so cold_.

"Nagi?"

" _Mother_ ," she wants to say, but her throat constricts. Are there small, long hands wrapped around her? Are there small, wet strings tied to her wrists? " _Mother, help me_ -"

_-uro-sama! Plea-_

It feels wet and _dead_. Whatever is holding her down feels _dead_ , slimy _like an octopus_ clinging to her, holding her down, _so cold_.

Blood. Her hands are covered in blood.

 _-RRY UP ANDD_ _**RRSHTtt shhh** _

Her head hurts so _much._

_**Is the child alive?** _

* * *

"Will you tell me what happened?," the fake policeman asks. He is tall, with a top hat and bandages wrapped around his face.

"There was a child," she whispers. The fake policeman is _fake_ but he is still _here_ , listening to her unlike _anyone else_.

_**bzzt- piiiiiiii-** _

_-st fine. Do not w-_

"Shiraishi- _kun_?" The policeman reaches for her hand, her _clean_ hand, and she feels relieved.

"He was small." She can trust this _fake, unreal_ policeman. Unreal like the whole town. Unreal like her memories. "Had a long braid and- And he exploded."

Bright, golden light, surrounding her and the child in her arms. _Red_. _Deep dark water and he is_ _ **drowning.**_

"I wanted to save him."

_**bzz- crash !** _

_-en three days, Muk-!_

"Terrorism, maybe?" The fake policeman is taking notes, and she shakes her head. She feels she recognized something in the child.

_**Loneliness.** _

"Thank you, Shiraishi- _kun_."

She wants to ask the fake policeman why he covers his face with bandages.

 _(but he wants to kill them_ _**all** _ _)_

She sleeps.

* * *

_-y are you smiling, you brat-_

_**click** _

_**bzzzzzt click** _

_-one. We will rest here. M.M., could you-_

Nagi smiles, curled up on herself. The world is dark and cold, but she doesn't feel alone anymore.

**Caw caw cAw cAW CAW SCREECH**

The birds settle on her windowsill and she reaches for a blank sheet of paper. Her legs tremble even as she sits down. _It is so loud_.

_-o-sama, why are all these crows here?_

_Leave them, Chik-_

_**click** _

She sighs. Her quill has indigo ink. She wonders if her words ever reach their destination.

* * *

 _Dearest brother_ ;

_**drip** _

**drip**

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a terrible week with my insomnia acting up and school supposedly resuming after a month and a half of strike, protests and riots. I thought getting this chapter off my head early could ease my mind, so here you go. It is... short, yes, but I couldn't add more for fear of ruining the episode order.
> 
> Finally, something happens. Or, well, something doesn't happen; sorry Dino, you can stay away for a little longer, right? Also next chapter is Fuuta, which means I can finally start moving the Kokuyo gang off in Europe. You're going on a roadtrip, kids, please keep your minds inside at all moments!
> 
> Look at a map and tell me what's wrong here; I am tired of looking at it and still can't see what's irking me. In the era the Simon would have moved to Japan, sakoku was still in effect and the little foreign trade was handled in either Kyushu or Hokkaido; Cozart settled somewhere in Kyushu, Giotto went hiding to Shikoku. Simon Island would be closer to Shikoku, or something. Actually, just attach a piece of land south between Kyushu and Shikoku and there, there you have Namimori.
> 
> Also Kyoya's mother: I looked at a list of names and my first idea was 'ok, let's give her the most obviously Chinese name in the world', so Hibari Mei Li. She is Chinese, but with heavy Ryukyu influence, and Kyoya understands shit of shuri (as do I, anyways; I understand shit of Japanese dialects). She is cute though, and she doesn't know how many children Fon has. I don't know either. Don't ask.
> 
> Renato is Reborn, because fanon? Canon? I don't even remember. His episodes are turning out really spoilerific, but it was due time he noticed. I-pin is transgirl because if I can write a polyamorous relationship without a care, I can write WHATEVER I WANT. Nana loves Iemitsu but is bitter about being left behind, and Skull is the ultimate Arcobaleno and I _am having so much fun ruining everyone's lives_.
> 
> That. Starting from now on, the timeline paces up in the manga, so between cute Sawada sibling family being cute and (insert spoilers for next chapter here), we are also speeding up the months. Coming up next: not Dino and a little star prince. Also some other things, while a group of criminals flee the law and straight into the hands of fate.
> 
> See you next week!


	8. life namimori

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earlate chapter. I feel terrible. It is a terrible chapter, but Reborn realizes he is gonna die.

**Sun interlude**

**crescendo**

He used to be boring. A boring boy, with too little to do and a couple of boring, generic interests.

He loved, and still loves, music. He loved, and still loves, science. Those were the only things he thought he would ever do in his life: graduate school with good grades and then leave, run off to try and make his living as a professional musician.

He thought -still thinks- life was pretty normal. Average. Common. Quiet, peaceful Namimori was the one place where he was the completely average and generic guy people looked over, and he liked it. Nothing out of place here.

_Nothing_.

* * *

_"Here. This is yours."_

His name was Byakuran Gesso. He was eight, or seven, years old and looked like he had been taken straight out of a hospital without permission (his mother would have a heart attack). He was paper white. Thin. Small. Bruised. Had a pair of eyes that never focused on anything unless you called for his attention.

He was an abnormality of the world.

He was interested in the boy; not as much as he was interested in science or music, but still interested. The boy had simply walked into his room one day, through the window, and refused to leave. The boy had dropped a ring in his hands and told him to keep it with him.

He had tried to get rid of the boy, but Byakuran never left. He ignored all the insults and threats, like some sort of parasite who simply latched on and wouldn't move unless you destroyed it.

_"You are my best friend, and I'm not letting go of you."_

* * *

Byakuran stayed with him for a week. Hiding from his mother, from his sister, against his own will; Byakuran made a place for himself in his room, in his bed, and refused to leave unless to meet with the other boy he had made friends with. Byakuran had slowly started to dig a nest into his heart, his life, in the shape of an extremely annoying sweet-toothed intruder who only wanted to have fun.

The blue haired man -only a year older than himself, but so much _more_ \- came to pick Byakuran up after that week. His name was Kikyo, and he had the same winged-stone ring that Byakuran wore, but in a different color.

It was also the same ring he later wore, and wears, hanging by a chain on his neck.

Byakuran left and Irie Shouichi felt a void in his life, his soul; first a small needle point, then growing bigger, and bigger.

_The Sun shining over the Sea is never truly covered._

* * *

He started having dreams.

They began small. Then got big. Bigger. Weird and weirdest by each passing week.

_Irie Shouichi, internationally famous conductor, found dismembered in the outskirts of Tokyo._

Tragic.

_Irie Shouichi discovers a path through time -the breakthrough of time travel?_

Beautiful.

_Irie Shouichi commits suicide after a failed performance._

Depressing.

_Irie Shouichi, Information Department Chief of the Vongola, secret music critic?_

Weird.

It isn't until he meets Tsunayoshi that he realizes what those dreams mean.

_"Shouichi-_ san _, can you come over tomorrow? We fear there may be something in the-"_

It isn't until Byakuran explains that he realizes that he is meant for _so much more_.

* * *

He abandons his studies in favor of his research.

Occasionally, he abandons his research in favor of his music.

Eventually, he graduates too early and leaves for Italy (with proper permission). Eventually, he receives a complete funding by a _mysterious sponsor_ to continue his studies. Eventually, he receives a white uniform, a pure black ring and an ebony mask to go with it.

Eventually, he becomes the person his dreams said he could become.

The Tactician, the deceiving Sun, the Conductor.

Eventually, he matches up with all of Irie Shouichi around the vast multiverse. In strength, in intellect, in charisma.

* * *

And, eventually, he tells himself he will surpass them.

No, he **must** surpass them.

For the sake of their world.

* * *

**034**

**Girls**

Midori Middle is a small, girl-only school located in Midori Campus; it is right besides Yumei Private's own middle school branch, so she doesn't quite understand why don't they merge and become a single, mixed gender school. It isn't like Yumei boys are chaste, innocent students who dare not look at a girl in the eye or the girls from Midori are so terrified of boys they will scream if they look at one.

They aren't. Both Midori and Yumei students have the reputation of being _high class polite little ladies/lords_ , but in practice most of them are spoiled, gossip-fueled precocious children. And precocious means what it means; Midori High has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in all of Namimori. The students don't even try to hide it, as half of them come from Namimori, most of the other half are invitees from outside the Circle, and a small percentage are Kokuyo students who had managed to score high enough to be accepted. Most of them, however, pay no mind to the terrible rumors from the High School classes of their campus.

One such uncaring student is Haru's closest acquaintance (she dares not call her a friend, since she is rather shy), Shiraishi Nagi. Petite, with delicate features and the aura of someone who will break if you touched her, Nagi is a second year student who always seemed lost in her own world. This is what Haru likes of her: she _listens_ , and doesn't judge. Nagi is high up in her list of most-trusted (after Hidetada, but before Irie Shouichi).

Right now, though, she has to doubt and not believe. Nagi's stories have always been Tsuna-like: extremely fantastic, with the constant presence of ghostly companions and adventures into the spirit world; even then, she is not quite sure if, after all the weird things she has seen, Nagi's story is a dream or reality (Nagi's mysterious mentor _must_ be an illusion, though).

"A child."

"Yes," Nagi whispers, holding her bag tightly to herself. They are waiting for her pick up by the bridge to Kokuyo, like every other day. Haru has never crossed the bridge, though she has wanted to; the two statues at the entrance of the town are enough to scare her away. "He was small. And, like the sun."

Haru hums to herself, tapping her foot against the floor. 'Like the sun,' Nagi always used weather-related words when referring to people. It was one of her charms, but at times a little hard to decipher. Weather was unstable at worst, and there are two ways someone can be 'like the sun'.

Well, Nagi is not injured, though she was apparently in the hospital for a few days after the _incident_. She believes this is a good _sun_ , then, even if Nagi's retelling of the event made her scared for her friend-acquaintance's life.

"He is here," Nagi says, leaning to kiss Haru's cheek before running to the bridge, where the sleek, white car is waiting for her. She waves, and after returning it, Haru turns around and leaves.

The road back to Namimori is quiet and peaceful, with the occasional student biking or running past her. She doesn't understand why they hurry so much: sooner or later, they will make it home, right? So it doesn't really matter if she runs home or just walks, she prefers to enjoy the short trip from her school to her house.

The two gate cliffs are in sight, with the staircase leading to the shrine in one side and to old town in the other. There is nothing she really has to do, today, so she can enjoy relaxing and maybe drop by the bakery for a slice of cake.

"Miura- _san_?"

She notices the two girls walking her way and smiles. Two more to join her cake party, then.

"Kyoko- _chan_ and Hana- _chan_ , hello."

Kyoko looks tired and sweaty, dressed in her training gear with weighted arm warmers. Hana, for her part, is simply wearing her usual black jacket with the red armband of the DC tied to it. The two are Tsuna's friends, and Haru has spent enough time around them to learn to read their emotions.

"Hello, Miura- _san_ ," greets Hana, a small bow in her stance. "Where are you headed?"

"Ah, I wanted to have some cake! How about you two join me?"

They agree, and life is normal.

* * *

**035**

**Koku-**

He doesn't have many things to do, lately. Training keeps him busy enough, trying to catch up to his future Boss and the stupid boy who hangs around him. Sawada Hidetada and Yamamoto Takeshi are _strong_ , in a way no civilian should be. There is no hesitance in their movements, but also a subtle hint of pre-planning left over from their constant sparring matches with pre-set forms under the eyes of their teachers.

They aren't the only ones in Namimori with such skills. The girl, Miura Haru, is a good display of quick thinking and innate reflexes, though she is physically weak; the two other girls near the Sawada family are a duo of too kind and too harsh words that seem to have brought too many people into their fanclub. More than half the DC members are brutes who enjoy following orders and aren't surprised at being ambushed, something he has seen with his own eyes: they consider being ambushed by a dynamite-throwing classmate a fun exercise for the day.

Every single one of the club presidents, from elementary to high school, is extremely talented at what they do. His own president, Kuroe Takemi, works part time at the only locally run chemist in town and seems to know a little too much about what proportions should be used to create relatively harmless poison (Bianchi had loved her). Sasagawa Ryohei was known for constantly smashing his concrete dummies to dust, and the stalker Mochida Kensuke times his sudden ambush matches into the dozen seconds or less.

And then, there is Kokuyo.

Ever since Bianchi had arrived, Reborn left the scouting of Kokuyo in her hands. Lambo occasionally followed, but as of late she had gotten the idea that investigating the local ghost story town with her own, supernatural obsessed brother was a perfect way for them to bond. It is the sixth time they come to Kokuyo, ready for anything, only to be disappointed by the mundane-ness of the town.

Not.

When Gokudera Hayato turns around, he is looking into the eyes of a statue.

Again.

The bridge marker of Kokuyo is a great, arched stone snake with small opals as eyes, adorned with the finest clothes Hayato has seen since leaving his father's house. Under the cloth and wrapped by the snake's tail rests a crystal stone the size of a tennis ball that seems to produce its own light in all the colors of the land. It has flowers _everywhere_ , spreading from the tip of its tail (which falls off the stone and rests besides the only path to the river in the area) to… everywhere else.

If Hayato didn't know any better, he would think the flowers were born _from_ the snake.

The snake is supposed to be the Guardian of Kokuyo. The statue in front of it, at the other side of the bridge, is also the Guardian of Kokuyo. One is supposed to be the Judge and the other the Jailer, but he doesn't know which is which. Both are giant, ominous pieces that stand at each side of the only road _into_ Kokuyo from Namimori, seeming to pass judgment on each person that dares approach.

The other Guardian is an unrecognizable bird, a breed between an owl and a crow, with onyxes in its eyes and feathers painted in too many colors with curly, thin strokes. It wears no clothes, but attached to its wings are a lot of small, delicately wrapped bundles of feathers, flowers and other pretty things. The whole ensemble gives a general look of the aurora in the sky, except it isn't in the sky, nor is it anywhere near it.

Hayato finds it really funny that the stone bird is trapped here, so close to the lowest point of Namimori, when there is a mountain right around it.

These aren't the only statues, though; the bridge from Midori to Kokuyo, the gate leading into the forest beyond Kokuyo and the road that goes on to join the path connecting Namimori to the rest of Japan are _all_ guarded by the pair of statues. Smaller, yes. Not as cared for, either, but the idea is the same. The great river and the mountain, that watch over Namimori and its surroundings and seal it off the rest of the island.

Though the snake is a surprisingly realistic art piece, not many people like looking at it, from his conclusions. He has seen children looking after them, all as wild-looking as the Kokuyo children over at Midori, and occasionally some women. He has never, ever seen anyone take care of the bird, though, which makes him wonder how it is so well-taken care of.

For the sixth time since walking in and out of Kokuyo, Hayato finds a gap in his memories. Walking past the statues, with his sister. Blank. Walking past the statues, alone. When he checks the time, he realizes he is missing one hour of his life and has nothing to prove it ever existed: not his memories, no witnesses, no sister.

Except for a small, horn shaped ring in his hand.

Kokuyo is weird. Weirder than Namimori, it would seen, except he doesn't know because he can't remember it. When he looks past the statues and into the town proper, he sees a road, a couple buildings around it and then, nothing. Just a heavy, deep rooted mist that seems to be more in his eyes than actually real. Disturbing doesn't even begin to describe it.

Bianchi walks out, wearing a pair of dark glasses she wears when she is around him.

"...what are we doing, again?"

"I have no idea, _aneki_."

They both groan and start making their way back to the town that can be remembered.

* * *

**036**

**Report**

The week before New Year is always busy around Namimori. People run around all over town and the surroundings areas, keeping their superiors updated to any anomalies that they see and checking and re-checking the borders of the land. The DC, and Nami Middle itself, is not exempt of this, which is why Hidetada is currently sitting in Hibari Kyoya's personal office with a mug of tea in his hands.

"-is back in place. We shouldn't have any trouble with it for the following year." The people currently reporting are Kuroe Takemi and Akito, twin presidents of the chemistry and physics club, respectively. They are a pair of small studious little _shits_ with an obsession for science but no sense of normality (well, they are from Kokuyo). "We could use more funding in GW, though."

"Funding." Hibari Kyoya speaks, eyebrow raised and looking completely bored. You shouldn't ask the Hibaris for money, ever.

"The GW," starts Akito, reaching for the second report sheet they had prepared, "has been dealing with high number of outsiders trying to get into the island. It is record breaking and none of us want any more of it."

"Ah. The outsiders."

Hibari throws a _look_ at Hide that clearly speaks of disappointment and suspicion, though his face remains as impassive as always. He reaches for the budget report, eyeing it quickly before throwing it into the pile of papers to be looked at later. The twins seem pleased by his unspoken acceptance of their request and, after a low bow, leave the office.

The silence in the room is tangible.

Hide knows why he has been called here, but he has never liked waiting in front of Hibari Kyoya. It gives him the creeps.

What seems like hours pass before Hibari makes his move, taking a sheet of paper from under the desk. He motions for Hide to sit closer, which he does under the risk of death or disciplinary actions, and then clicks his nails on the list.

_Requests for long-term residence - Approved_

He wants to scream in despair and disappointment. The list is not an odd sight in the office, unlike others (like the _permanent residence_ one, which Hide has only seen once with his and his mother's name highlighted as they discussed the terms of condition), but to see such a long list is rather disturbing. People simply don't _move_ to Namimori. It is something they don't do.

The list is topped by _R. Sinclair_ , referred by Sawada Iemitsu and dated about a year past. Then, said _R. Sinclair_ had referred a couple more ( _Gokudera Hayato_ and _Shamal Alvarez_ , from about six months ago, _Lambo Bovino_ and _Bianchi Devizia_ a little later) and I-pin's name had been blacked off with a side note ( _legal adoption_ , _pending_ ). There are a couple other names, under Naito Longchamp's referral and with a null line in their residence address, but Hide doesn't care about those ones.

They are all names he _knows_ and recognizes as Mafia-related. All the outsiders in Hide's current life. The new arrivals to Namimori as of year 2009.

What is his father doing there?

"We have gotten a few more," Hibari says, looking at the list like it had offended him (and it did). "Your house guest has abused our hospitality."

"I... apologize. I don't know what-"

"Lies."

Hide knew he was lying, but what other choice did he have? Most of the requests came from his _family_ , his future Mafia family, and can he really tell the truth to Hibari Kyoya without being killed for the effort?

Well, he is pretty sure he won't be killed. Maybe end in the hospital, if things went too bad, but that's only if he actually tells the truth. Should he can continue lying through his teeth about the whole Vongola business? Is it really worth it?

"Sawada Hidetada."

Hibari is staring at him. Escape ways are guarded. He has only a mug for self defense. The easiest course of action is- He can't lie to Hibari Kyoya.

"Apparently, Hibari- _sempai_ , I am to become Mafia…"

* * *

**036.b**

**Yet another report**

"... _and they are coming nea- Are you listening?_ "

"Your music talk bores me, Sho- _chan_!"

" _Deal with it? Wow, stop banning things for me, can't I just be a normal teenager?_ "

"No, sorry, you are fated for great things."

" _And yet I'm a minion._ "

"The best minion- Oh, oh, I know, I should get Kikyo to spy on you so you will drop the mus-"

" _Don't. That's illegal."_

"Okay, fiiiine. Sooorry…"

" _And you say Tsunayoshi is problematic."_

"Tsunayoshi didn't implode the universe! _You_ did!"

" _Stop dreaming sci-fi stories. I need to finish my homework, bother someone else"_

"Wait, Sho- _chan_! Ah, damn…

"Hi? Kikyo? This is Byakuran, can you pass the receiver to Daisy, I n- Thanks!"

* * *

**037**

**New Year**

" _And then she fell off her bed, it was cute, she is so cute, I will introduce her to you sometime soon-_ "

New Year's Eve finds the Sawada family gathered in their home, listening to the roaring rain falling outside. They were supposed to go out as tradition, but the rain had began early and doesn't seem to want to stop.

Tsuna is leaning against Hide's legs, Byakuran chatting his ear off -he doesn't want to know what Byakuran is doing up so late- and going on and on about Bluebell, the curious girl he met through his visions. Hide himself is quietly 'yes', 'ah' and 'no, won't do'-ing into his own phone with Takeshi, while Gokudera pouts next to him anout his ruined fun. Reborn and Bianchi are sitting in the _kotatsu_ , with Lambo and I-pin eating imported grapes while watching some TV program, and Mamma is rumaging through the wine case looking for something they can all share.

They had wanted to light up fireworks, but the rain and announced snow had stopped them. Takeshi and his father were supposed to come visit, but they had also been stopped by the weather. So, New Year's eve had been a quiet affair until the phones started ringing about an hour ago and everyone worried about giving their final yearly greetings to their acquaintances.

Byakuran, of course, had wanted all of them to have a joint call, but Mamma hadn't let Tsuna leave the room. So, he is stuck trying to keep the conversation into a topic that can be shared -there were too many people, and everything Byakuran wants to talk about is mostly confidential or too weird to be spoken out loud.

Byakuran does too many things for his age. He should take a break.

Daemon is... somewhere. Not far, since Tsuna can feel him in the back of his mind, but far enough he isn't able to peek into what he is doing. That is also a person who did too much for... however old he was. Definitely too much, at times Tsuna can't keep up with him and it leaves his mind _tired_.

Tsuna leans back when Hide brushes a hand through his hair, sighing in contentment. Tired or not, he will make sure to enjoy this year the most he can.

(In a dark, forgotten corner of his mind, a small alarm yells _danger_.)

* * *

**038**

**Visitation**

It is school visitation day and Reborn, currently disguised as one Mrs. Reboyama, is thoroughly amused.

The class, Hide's, is divided into three clearly defined groups of parents and relatives. The children don't pay much mind to it, but they are in clear discomfort about the animosity in the room, while the teacher seems troubled by the presence of one Hibari Kyoya sitting in the back of his classroom.

He is here, for some reason taking _notes_. Not on the class, because Hibari Kyoya is apparently the top of his grade, but on the interaction between the parents and the children. He throws sharp glances to some and poisonous _glares_ to some others, and Reborn himself gets an empty look. His attention, however, is mostly focused on the far off corner of the class, where the biggest group of parents gathers.

Sawada Nana, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, Bianchi and a woman Reborn recognizes as the annoying boy Osamu's mother, are gathered in the other corner. Between them and the others, a small group of awkward looking relatives stand, clearly confused by what is going on in the classroom. The biggest group is made up of Namimori natives Reborn doesn't know, but who are clearly well versed in the comings and goings of their city.

He wonders if it is only the children who are oblivious to everything. If, they even are. Past a certain age, Namimori students seem to either head two ways: complete and absolute obedience and unwillingness to say anything, and complete and absolute normalcy oblivious to everything else.

Yamamoto Takeshi is, unsurprisingly, woken up by the teacher's chalk the moment he is asked a question. For some reason, Tsuyoshi doesn't look disappointed by his son's napping, but he does seem disappointed by the fact he didn't dodge in time.

"Yamamoto, name two components of DNA."

"Uh." Yamamoto Jr. looks around the room and Reborn smirks. Not even in visitation day, his students are paying attention. He does notice, however, Gokudera making hand signs behind his book (too obvious, needs training) and Hide looking through his own textbook in a hurry.

They all need more training. Time to add to their daily schedules.

* * *

**039**

**Fuuta della Stella**

"He can stay with me," says Tsuna, breaking the thinking silence that fills the house with his quiet words, and Hide looks at him in shock. "It isn't fair that I'm the only one who gets no roommate."

He is... completely right. Bianchi has a room for her own, but she is also half-paying for it (she buys groceries). Hide rooms with Reborn, and Lambo and I-pin were thrown in together in the last room upstairs since they were the same age. It makes perfect sense for Tsuna to take in their new 'adoption'.

Except it doesn't.

Even Mamma looks shocked by the declaration. Tsuna doesn't like letting people into his room: he cleans it himself (not neatly like Hide, but he keeps his room dust free and well aired) and keeps the door closed when he isn't in it. It just isn't like him to allow someone else to room with him, no matter that they are the same age. It just... doesn't make sense for Tsuna, who has denied a hundred and one changes in his life since years ago, to suddenly allow in someone else.

The boy's name is Fuuta della Stella. He is small, dressed in well-worn clothes and too-small shoes, with a giant scarf wrapped around him. He carries a giant book and a suitcase, apparently filled with nothing but sweets, a few non-perishable warm-and-eat foods and a couple of pens. He claims to be nine, but considering how negligent his upbringing seems to have been, Hide doesn't doubt his age to be wrong.

The boy had appeared under Hibari's arm earlier this day, looking lost but determined. Hibari had taken him to Hide, left the boy with him and told him to take a day off serve as babysitter. His exact words had been something like ' _Sawada, there are outsiders, so I will leave this child to you_ ,' which made Hide know there was something else about the boy, so... It isn't like he can go against Hibari Kyoya, anyways.

He had taken Fuuta around town, sharing a light conversation about weather and the goings in Italy. Reborn had been off at Tsuna's class, so he couldn't ask, but nowadays all outsiders are somehow related to Reborn and the mafia so he didn't doubt it was the same again. Besides, Hibari had been acting weird, and he did feel the eyes on his back through all the trip with his new ward.

He would have taken Fuuta home, but today was Mamma's morning duty day and she had probably taken the kids, and Bianchi was off in a fishing trip for the week. Stupid as he was, Hide hadn't taken his key today, so he had gone over to Kusakabe- _sensei_ 's house around mid morning, when Fuuta's stomach had protested, to beg her for some late breakfast.

And it was then when the weird things started. Or got worse, whatever.

_Bang_. They had been shot at the base of the stairs a second after Giotto- _san_ had _slammed_ into his senses and screamed _warning, danger_ at him. Well, he could deal without his right shoulder for now, but that had _hurt_. He had been pretty sure they were going to die, considering Fuuta was completely defenseless when the man with the gun approached them, and Hide himself was curled up on the ground in pain.

_"Hand the Prince over, and you get to live,"_ the man said, smirking all the while with his two companions flanking him on either side. How they got into town without being noticed, Hide doesn't know, but the Kusakabe family had been _furious_ that someone, anyone had dared dirty their gate grounds.

_Sensei_ had been the first one there, barehanded and barefoot, kicking off the man's guns away with the strength to seventy-years old should have. Her son, Kusakabe Senior, had taken on one of the other mafioso, wielding his broom like it was a real spear and it was _beautiful_ (Kusakabe Hideo was Hide's fighting role model. It didn't help that they shared a name, too), while the apprentice _miko_ that may or may not be Tetsu _-san_ 's fianceé (Osamu- _san_ , who was easily five years older than them) disarmed the third guy.

They had missed the fourth one, though, who leapt from the disguise behind the trees and tried to snatch Fuuta's giant book away, but a yell of _extreme!_ and a blur of white appeared and the man was knocked out.

The gate watchers had been called to take the men away and Hide, Fuuta and Ryohei had been invited to lunch for their troubles. The shrine carers couldn't go with them, so _sensei_ had sat them at her dining room and drilled Fuuta with questions until he gave in and spilled.

The reason there was mafia after him? The reason he was chased out of his town, out of everywhere he ever lived since he was a child? Apparently, he was some kind of supernatural informant who could find every information as long as it could be properly organized and listed, which had lead him to be chased everywhere by greedy people looking for information to improve their business or find easy targets.

Ryohei had been disgusted, but Hide understood it, a little. His family (the Sawada) had, since generations back, been forced into hiding as well, so it wasn't like he could just let Fuuta go and ignore it. Above all things, he was a member of the community, and Fuuta's unguarded presence would bring nothing but trouble.

He had taken him in.

As thanks, Fuuta had told him Hide was ranked number one mafia boss unable to let unlawful business or unfair treatment of others, go on in his immediate surroundings; while Ryohei ranked number one most spirited close-ranged fighter. The rankings had been cute, as befitting of Ranking Prince Fuuta, until they had gone back home and met Reborn.

"I see you have found Fuuta," Reborn said, smirking,while Fuuta's eyes went wide and the laws of physics got all disturbed around him. Tsuna, who apparently was fighting his homework duty again, looked at them like Christmas had come early and-

Tsuna had grinned. Laughed. Jumped up, ran to Fuuta, held his scarf down even as the lack of gravity forced his whole body up. Fuuta had immediately ranked Tsuna as 'number one civilian unable to turn down a request' and 'cutest civilian in Japan', clung to him like his life depended on it and, well.

Mamma had arrived a few minutes after that, which lead them to the disussion about where would Fuuta, now officially under the sanctuary of Namimori, would stay. Giving him to the Miuras had been suggested, but Hide himself had denied it as Haru would have a heart attack. Giving him to Kokuyo had been refused by Reborn, as they needed to keep an eye on him.

Well, he is, apparently, staying in Tsuna's room now.

"Thanks, Tsu- _nii_."

"We are the same age."

And that is that.

* * *

**039.b**

**Ranking prince**

"Then, can you give us some rankings?"

Fuuta is sitting at the table, munching on some bread after the long, long bath Mamma Sawada had made him take before dinner. Tsuna had helped him with it, thankfully, as Fuuta is still completely confused by Japanese-style houses (even in the Sawada house is not really Japanese, they still have a whole lot of traditional things), and then shared some clothes with him!

Which is why Fuuta currently wears a onesie pyjama with a cat-eared hood. Hidetada had been _ecstactic_ and Tsuna could do nothing but look embarrased.

Since it is dinner, everyone in the house has come back. Lambo and I-pin, who were introduced to him as the two adopted children of Sawada Nana, sat on each side of him and kept trying to steal his juice, but that's okay. Bianchi, the tenant lady who rents the guestroom downstairs, is sharing a glass of something with Mamma Sawada, while Reborn is having coffee. Hide and Tsuna sit next to each other like the cute brothers they are, and they keep fighting over who gets to keep the peas.

Fuuta feels his life will become easier, here.

"Sure!" He can, indeed, give some rankings. That's all he ever does! "What do you wish to know?"

"Hm…" Reborn and Hide share a look that is stuck between love and hate, and Fuuta wants to laugh. They are _adorable_ , but not as much as Tsuna (who is _familiar_ and _home_ and makes his heart feel like it is going to burst). "Then, just give us our first rankings."

"Alright!" His book is under his chair, so it is just a matter of writing it down later. For now- " _Ranking- Sawada Household Ranks by order of interest._ "

He feels himself… disconnect. Go somewhere else, while his bodies stays down in earth to broadcast the ranking. He feels like, if he were to look back while sleeping, he would see himself mouthing off all the ranks he knows, soulless and heartless, just a radio device to manifest something far, far away.

He feels himself _disconnect_ , and feels a strong, steady presence closeby. Dark, _pitch black_ , but familiar. Like Tsuna, so he clings to it.

**_Hello, child_.**

" _Number one in interest list. Number one Hitman in the world, Ren- Reborn. Number two interest, number one to become the most extreme law enforcer, Sawada Hidetada._ "

The presence is, apparently, a spirit or remnant clinging to Tsunayoshi's mind. His body throws a look at his new brother, making Tsuna look away quickly, even as the presence chuckles and throws him a picture of a boiling kettle.

" _-umber one most talented in the future, Lambo Bovino. Number six interest, number one risk to t-_ " The presence grabs his mind, twists it to a side, makes him lose the ranking. He skips it. " _Number seven interest, number one potential Sky Arcobale-_ "

The presence _kicks_ him off the ranking, and Fuuta coughs, dizzy and lost.

It isn't even _raining._

* * *

**040**

**Love**

" _Sawada Hidetada's number one love is…_ "

Why are _all of them_ so interested in it? Haru, okay! She likes love stories! Kyoko is a child, but _Hana_!? Tsuna? Why!?

" _...Sawada Tsunayoshi._ "

WHAT!?

Tsuna is _blushing_ and giving Hide the most embarrassed look he has _ever seen in his face_ , stop, Fuuta! But no, he continues:

" _Miura Haru's number one love is…_ "

AH!

" _...money._ "

Damn it. "I KNEW IT!"

Was that his voice? Did he really- now Haru is looking at him _wrong_! Stop! Her shoe is heavy, help!

" _Sawada Tsunayoshi's number one love is…_ "

Please say Hidetada. Say Hidetada.

" _...the Mist._ "

"WHAT IS THAT EVEN SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" Did Hana break her vow of silence to yell along with Hde, thanks, little brother's best friend. He is _so thankful_ he is not the only one shocked! Wow!

Then again, it _is_ raining. Fuuta did say he didn't like rain, maybe he is just being spiteful?

" _Kurokawa Hana's number one love is…_ "

"No, wait, stop!" Thanks, Hana.

" _...Hibari... Masato…?_ Ah."

It turns out rain _is_ quite bad to Fuuta.

* * *

**041**

**Call**

"I don't think you understand, Iemitsu."

It is raining. The children are having fun with Fuuta's ranking, Bianchi is off drinking with Gokudera and Mamma has something to do. That leaves Reborn a perfect moment to call _Sawada Iemitsu_ , who apparently _hasn't shown his face_ to his family in three years, two months and twenty one days.

" _It's gonna be okay, Reborn~! You are good at this, you can do this!_ "

Iemitsu doesn't know _anything_ about his family, does he?

"Iemitsu. He almost killed the man because he _didn't take off his shoes_."

" _They are quite extreme, those guys-_ "

"It was _your son_. Your _son_ who, by the way, is _ten years old._ "

" _Ah, Tsuna is really cute, cute! He wouldn't harm a fly!_ "

"Iemi-"

" _Sh, Reborn, it's okay! It's okay! Nothing is wrong with Na-_ "

And just like that, he hangs up.

Or rather, the connection is cut. It takes Reborn a couple seconds to notice a wet and blank looking Miura Satoshi standing besides the phone booth, holding the phone's wires with two pincers in one hand and a phone in the other. When the man notices him looking, he smiles and waves, spraying water everywhere, and Reborn frowns at the sight of the telephone wiring scrambled next to the booth.

"What." His greeting is curt and to the point, not a greeting at all, yet Miura Satoshi is still smiling. Like _always_. The man _never stops smiling-_

"Masato wants to see you, Mister R."

Well, alright then.

* * *

**041.b**

**Life Namimori**

Hibari Masato, as it turns out, is not at all like Hibari Kyoya. If the son was the incarnation of hidden strength and bloodlust, then the father is… laziness, probably. Weak looking, slouched, with his tie undone and a couple buttons loose. He would never be believed to be the _ultimate, final voice_ in all matters concerning Namimori, except the man is the tyrant behind _everything_ that is Life Namimori. From his son at the Disciplinary Committee, to his relatives everywhere, to everyone even remotely related to old town in the Neighbourhood Watch, ruling the city with a tired and gentle grin in his face even as he reveals papertrail after papertrail to Reborn, cutting down Reborn's hopes of Dino's visit being _normal_.

"Now, then, let's talk about this, Sinclair- _san_." His pronunciation is perfect, too. Multilingual, just like everyone else Reborn has met of the higher circles of Namimori. "I, personally, don't mind your guests visiting us."

That's good, isn't it? Except… "But?"

The man is seriously infuriating, with his _smile_. Like Miura Satoshi, except worse, because he knows Haru's father's smile isn't _real_ , but this one's _is_. He actually _believes_ the bullshit he spouts, like so many other of the higher names of Namimori do as well. And, that is not good for Reborn, at all: this man's honesty is _terrifying_.

"Well, you see…" Masato (- _sama_ , because Hide would have a heart attack if he didn't show _proper respect_ ) crosses his hands over his papers, sighing. "Fuyu doesn't like your… _prying_. Kyoya doesn't either, and I don't think Shiraishi- _kun_ does as well… It is unfortunate!" That _stupid laugh_ , full of mockery and _good will_. Reborn can't take it. "They are asking me to throw you out, but you have dibs on Hide _-chan_ , and Iemitsu was quite thorough in his terms!"

What, exactly, did Iemitsu _offer_ this man for Reborn's stay in the city, anyway? So far, he hasn't been told. He knows it has something to do with either of the Sawada siblings, probably Tsunayoshi, but _that is stupid_. This whole city is _stupid_ and Reborn _can't take it._

"So, we will allow you your guest, in exchange of your communications."

_Shit_.

_Fuck this shit_.

He wants to curse, to _kill_ this Hibari Masato, except that would turn him into the criminal everyone he has met thinks he is (he doesn't want to _talk_ about his meeting with the Judge over Kokuyo. Shiraishi Nagi may be young, but _she is also completely crazy_ and her love for the Judge was one scary thing). That would set the not-police on him and probably get him stuck in the lowest levels of the Vendicare, or worse, in Kokuyo Prison.

The pink haired secretary is staring at him through her dark glasses. Definitely Kokuyo Prison.

He leaves the office missing his phone and his old contacts. He knows it will be returned to him in a few days, probably improved with a tracking device, and he is still _worried_.

The man sitting outside the office is thin, frail and white haired. A slender mask with a messy flower crown covers his face, the mask of the Judge over Kokuyo, so Reborn bows to him before heading to the door. A cough brings his attention back to the old man, who is holding up a letter when he turns around.

"An advice, Master Arcobaleno," says the man, turning the letter around for Reborn to look at it. White, with a seven flame stamp and the Vongola crest as wax seal, his handwriting carefully spelling _Timoteo Calandro_. "If you wish to report to your superiors, do it via less traceable means."

The man hands him the letter before walking out, slow and slouched, so much like Hibari Masato, and no matter what Reborn tries to do it doesn't seem like he can follow him. The letter feels heavy in his hands, heavier than it did when he mailed it what feels like months ago, and he belatedly notices there are no post office marks in the envelope.

He is trapped.

For the first time since his memories were sealed away, for the first time since Luce's death, Reborn feels complete and absolutely hopeless. Desperate. _Afraid._

He is trapped in this hellhole town without a contact with anyone else besides those already trapped (he needs to apologize to Shamal and Bianchi), his every move watched and under the threat of imprisonment or even death if he speaks out about it.

And no one outside will ever realize he is gone.

* * *

**041.c**

**The second report**

_To my most esteemed Timoteo._

_My reports were requested to be short and to the point, and I shall get to it in a few more sentences. However I would like to advise you against coming to Namimori, now or in the future; there is no good to be found here, nor is there any sense in this small town. I have been tracing back the origins of its ruling organization, and what I have found is most troubling._

_My report, as follows: get the Sawadas out of Namimori. Immediately. No matter how you do it, what strings you need to pull to do it and how much you need to spend on it, you_ _**must** _ _get them out of this disguised hell I have found myself in. I cannot stress this too much:_ _**hurry** _ _._

_Vongola Decimo is a good child, as is his family. As is his father and all those that came before him. However, if the Vongola wishes to move away from generations of bloodshed, this will not do. This town corrupts. This town slowly seeps the innocence and morality away from children. They live by their own rules and own government. They do not_ _**understand** _ _the outside world._

_They live in a tyranny built around extreme discipline and training. Each and every single one of these children are taught to fight on their own for the sake of the city. Each and every single one of these children are taught to_ _**accept** _ _physical and intellectual performance as the only thing that matters. They are shown that right of conquest is the way to achieve everything early on, later and as final decision. The strongest rules. That is the_ _**truth** _ _._

_I would like to warn you: Decimo did not graduate school the usual way. I have found no elementary school grade records, and those I have found as physical copies I believe are cover ups. There is a huge percentage of students who have no academic records to speak of, but their criminal records are triple that. Decimo's brother has earned the right to be ignored if he does not go to school. Decimo's club president has earned the right to do_ _**anything** _ _he wants._

_Nono. I have seen children, no older than fifteen, struggling for their lives before the so-called police. I have seen parents smuggling their newborn sons and daughters to the nearby island. I have seen crimes go ignored if they are believed to be for 'the best of the town'. I have seen people being denied entry or exit to and from the city. This is not the peaceful town your CEDEF told you about. This is not the face of the town_ you _told me about._

_I have seen too much through my line of work, but I have never seen a place like this. I have never seen such a disturbed, twisted take on law and order than this. I had never in my long life seen such-_

_rip_

_. by the power my name and Duty grants me, i Forbid you from mailing such lies through Our local post service. i would deeply Appreciate if you stopped trying to ruin Our community's reputation with this slander. we have given you lots of Freedom, but we will stop you here._

_leave and forget about Us. or, stay and accept our Ideals. you have two choices, pick Well._

_head of LN information. fKurokawa_

_rip_

_As much as Miss Kurokawa is right, I would like to change our terms. Leave and die. Or stay and live. I believe your answer shall be clear. You may continue bringing people into town, as Masato has probably told you, but you will not reveal anything, will you?_

_Namimori watches and Kokuyo knows. I await your next move, Chamaleon-_ chan _._

_K._

[Episode note: Ms. kurokawa's lines in the letter are written this way purposely. I don't think you have seen it just yet, but there are two or three other people who write with complete disregard of capitalization and punctuation. Also, yes, that is _that_ K.]

* * *

**(redacted) interlude**

**escape**

" _What do you mean they escaped."_

" _I apologize, sir. We took our eyes off Rokudo for two minutes and, and he was gone."_

" _How can they have escaped? Are you sure you didn't miss one?"_

" _No, sir. Modree's corpse was a fake. We saw Joshima_ _in his cell a few minutes ago in the same position as ten minutes before. We believe it is an illusion loop."_

" _Not only that, sir."_

" _Give me good news."_

" _My apologies. The twin murderers escaped. The shift guard has been-"_

" _Damn it."_

"This is hilarious, isn't it?"

" _Who a-"_ _ **bang**_

" _\- sir?"_

" _\- can you- -ters, repor-"_

"Don't worry. Let me take care of this."

" _Sir-"_

" _...Anto-?"_

"My apologies, dear guards." _**snap crunch sn-**_ "You have treated us well. Allow me to return the favor."

" _ROKUDO IS-"_ _ **snip**_ " _ugh-"_

" _My name"_ _ **snip drip**_ _"is not"_ _ **drip drip**_ _"Rokudo."_

_**bzzzt-** _

" _Kufufu._ Well done, Chikusa."

" _Mukuro-san."_ _ **click**_ _"How are we supposed to meet the others?"_

"Hmm…" **click click** "Well, it seems we are splitting up."

" _As you wish."_

* * *

_Dearest brother;_

_Congratulations._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I APOLOGIZE FOR THE WEEK LONG WAIT I just, well, school has been really hard on us and I have been on heavy medication for a while and with a rather high fever. Also, mourning for Iwata-san. Rest in peace, gaming gods.
> 
> I apologize about this chapter as a whole. It definitely isn't the best, but I honestly didn't know what to do about volume 4 without Dino, and I had to get Dino out of the way so Reborn would start freaking out. Since Fuuta has been introduced, things should start speeding up, though I hope it will not be like this sort of speed up. There were lots of time skips in-between episodes and lots of important conversations and events (Hide's talk with Hibari, Reborn's research, other things) that had to be shoved off for suspense and just because I wanted to.
> 
> Reborn's letter was mailed between 036.a and 036.b. Between then and his meeting with Hibari Sr., there is about two months, so it is… February. Still about half a year and three volumes until Mukuro arrives, but like a whole volume of that can be skipped by changing characters, especially since most of Kokuyo will be written from Mukuro and Tsuna's POVs. Also, Longchamp comes up next, which is fun because he is Longchamp. I also can't wait until the trip to Mafialand because Skull and Daemon get to talk and it will be great.
> 
> Before Kokuyo, I will post an extra chapter with information on the background OCs and organizations of this fucked up Namimori, hopefully without revealing anything of the Kawahira subplot. Or Kokuyo subplot? That subplot.
> 
> By the way, did you know Namimori hospital keeps skulls floating in a tube in their basement?
> 
> Until next week… if I don't die….


	9. judge's law

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **WARNINGS** : The _Sakura_ episode in this chapter contains _heavy implications_ of torture, descriptions of gore and children being creepy. The _Memories_ one has strong hints of brainwashing and memory manipulation, while _Asari Takeshi_ has vague mentions of torture. _Date_ is a little pedophiliac and everything else is a complete fuck up.

_A peaceful Japanese community where the snow is cold, the sun is hidden and dutiful eyes observe from high above Old Town while we all pretend to not care. Welcome to Nami-_

**042  
**

**Snow**

"EXTREME KNOCK OUT!"

"I WILL NOT G- OOF!"

Winters have always been a little odd in Namimori. Snow falls, snow coats the land, and Namimori citizens hide in their houses because everyone seems to absolutely loathe the cold. Hide and his family are not excused, which means that Hide being outside is... not okay. Not that there is anything illegal about being outside in snow days, people just don't do it.

After the fiasco that was Valentine's (really, no one should allow Kurokawa Hana and Bianchi in the same room), Hide personally decided that all world holidays were to be taken off the calendar and shoved into the 29th of February. Unfortunately, that means he has nothing to excuse being at school under heavy snow chasing after a toy car along with his friends… and some not-so-friends.

"And, with a _coup de grace_ , Sasagawa Ryohei has taken out Mochida Kensuke. Double knock out!" Reborn narrates, happily, from his spot by the Disciplinary Committee. They are all watching, for some reason, having forgotten their duties and patrols in favor of the snow fight that has been going on for what seems like hours. "Another impressive victory for the White Team, if I do say myself, don't you think so, Kyoya- _san_?"

"Hn," is Hibari's only answer from where he is sitting, wrapped all over Tsuna who _hates_ winter. Tsuna himself is bundled up in a dozen jackets from the DC's members, looking for all he cares like a king with a harem (the image is disturbing enough Hide shoves it off his mind immediately), with Fuuta sitting right next to him holding Lambo's small shape. "Mochida needs training."

"I do _not_ ," Mochida claims. He is still under Ryohei, as Ryohei is the heaviest person in all of their teams, and it doesn't seem like he will be moving soon. "This guy is just too extreme."

"Kensuke is just EXTREMELY weak to long fights!"

"It lasted _twenty seconds!_ "

Gokudera laughs from his spot, wherever it is, which prompts Haru to take out her wooden throwing knives. Takeshi, who is on sniper-guard duty, runs up to her, knocking the flying knives off the air with his bat. The unnamed member of Kokuyo Middle's shooting club appears from behind her when the swordsman gets too close, aiming the pellet gun and shoving Haru off.

"Haru resents that, _hahi_!"

She is in the Black Team, made up of handpicked DC members and some Kokuyo, and Midori students. The White Team is Reborn's own, built from a selection of Hide's friends and _supposedly_ , future mafia. They are the visiting team, though, since Hibari took over the Black Team as soon as this mockery of a game started.

The reason for the whole thing is stupid. Some guest of Reborn's, Dino Cavallone, was supposed to arrive in a few days, along with one subordinate. Reborn had sounded so happy when he had said his old student was visiting, Hide hadn't wanted to ruin his fun, but when he mentioned it to Hibari in his next report…

" _No subordinate. He is allowed_ one _guest a month."_

When, exactly, had Reborn had the time to discuss his right to bring people over (even if he had already done so with four people, though Gokudera and Lambo had been put as charges of the Sawada), Hide doesn't know. He is worried about the idea of _Reborn_ meeting with Hibari senior, though: whatever was discussed, he fears it.

Anyways, Reborn had challenged Hibari to a fight for Dino's right to bring in more people to the town. Awkward, doesn't even begin, since Hide had become Reborn's representative in the battle when he is one, a DC member and two, unable to go against Hibari Kyoya. Well, along with Hide, everyone he speaks to (Reborn had wanted to make Tsuna join, but Hide refused. His baby brother shouldn't come near Hibari- _sempai_ ) had been pulled into it.

Their team was made up of Gokudera, Takeshi, Ryohei, Lambo and Bianchi. I-pin had also been denied participation, as she was biased towards Hibari, so they had settled in a 6-vs-6 match. The only winning condition is getting to the toy car, controlled by Tetsu- _san_ , and keeping it in their possession for a minute.

Lambo and Ryohei had been taken out, but Lambo himself had managed to disarm a Kokuyo boy (Kuroe Akito, unfortunately. He had managed to make half the battle ground unusable by messing with the electricity wiring) and knock out the decoy that kept distracting Gokudera, before falling to Haru's charms. Ryohei had taken out Mochida just now, which left Haru herself, the leader of the Black Team (a disguised child from elementary school) and the gunner from Kokuyo.

Gokudera had hidden himself as soon as the battle began, while Takeshi stood close to his chosen location (though, he doesn't know where, _exactly_ , Gokudera is). He is acting sniper, with a Leon-rifle that was their team's only boost. Bianchi is still preparing some poison _bombs_ (snowballs), and Hide had taken up blocking the elementary-division DC member's path whenever she tried to approach the toy car.

The leader is an annoying brat, that's for sure. Her dress is all dirty and her hoodie seems to fall off every few minutes, but she is relentless. Apparently, she was a specially chosen envoy from the LN, and Hibari had simply accepted her without care. Hide would believe her to be a Kokuyo child, but she is definitely from Namimori, from the red armband tied around her arm.

Hide wants to thank all the deities and Tetsuya- _san_ for keeping Hibari himself off the field.

While the shoot-off is ongoing (Gokudera, hiding somewhere, versus the nameless Kokuyo gunner who is trying to tag out Takeshi), the girl and Haru seem to share an understanding. Haru takes another knife from her belt, this one slightly longer and not made for throwing, and Hide's only warning is the flash of light when the sun reflects in her watch.

He raises his staff to block Haru in the last second.

"Haru."

"Hide."

Ah, damn. She looks _beautiful_ like this, grinning ear to ear, and she actually looks like she is _having fun._ A little like Lambo when he goes on and on with science stuff Hide doesn't even try to understand: a little manic, obsessed, with this glint in their eyes that screams _mad scientist_! Or rather, mad seamstress. (Reborn had said most strong Lightning users are a bit crazy, but Hide doesn't understand a thing).

Haru has never been battle crazy, like Hibari or Tetsuya- _san_ , nor competitive like Takeshi (and, Hide at times), but she does enjoy sparring. Following choreographed moves and bringing out the beauty of a battle is her forte, much unlike Hide's own strength at misdirection and improvisation. _Sensei_ always said they made a good sparring match since they both brought the worst out of each other.

_Left_ , his mind says, and he lowers his arm to let his staff drop from the stalemate before throwing it _hard_ to the other side. His shoulder still hurts, a lot, but if Takeshi can fight with a recovering arm, so can Hide. His grip is just weaker, which means he needs to be careful, though for now it is enough to deal with Haru, who is in no way used to moving so much in so little time.

He hears the footsteps behind him, running towards where they had last seen the toy car. The mini-leader, and Hide is stuck blocking Haru's attempts to tag him out.

_Shit_. If they lose, Reborn will have their _heads_ -

**Bang!**

" _HANA!"_

The sound, followed by Tsuna's yell, makes both Hide and Haru drop their weapons. They turn to the girl, who is in the floor, surrounded by tiny purple snowballs. Whatever trap Bianchi had made, it seems to have been triggered by… Hana?

It is, indeed, Kurokawa Hana. Her hood has fallen, finally, and she looks tired, annoyed and just overall unamused. Hana was never a physical person.

"I _hate_ running," she says as she crosses her arms, stuck.

Hide takes that moment to pull Haru into a headlock.

It seems they have won.

* * *

**043  
**

**Dino, for real**

His name is Dino Cavallone and he, for the first time in his short life as a mafia boss, is absolutely confused. If it wasn't for Reborn's steady presence next to him, he would have screamed for his life and left because _no child has a right to look so scary_. Except Reborn, but Reborn is not even a real child anyways, he doesn't count.

Romario is getting along with the other kid, though. Kusakabe Tatsuya? Tetsuya? Something. The both seem to be bonding over complete silence and appraising looks into each other's eyes. It is creepy to see Romario show respect for someone who is probably twenty years older, but Dino feels he has to do the same for the other child in the room.

The other two children, really.

For some reason, he is at school, at Namimori Middle, in the reception room turned office for the chairman of… whatever is it he does. Something really important, since when Dino walked in following the kid, everyone bowed or stepped away, giving small greetings filled with respect and devotion. _Hibari_ -sama, they said, to which the boy responded with… nothing. He was like that terrible boss that didn't even believe he had subordinates (like Xanxus. If he looks at it from that point, Hibari Kyoya would make a _perfect_ Varia leader).

When he had gone into school with Reborn and followed by Romario, they had been intercepted by this boy. In fact, whenever he so much as tried to approach Sawada Hidetada, he would get intercepted by either this boy or the Kusakabe one, and it had been like that ever since he arrived. He doesn't even know why Hidetada, or anyone else, is at school, aren't they supposed to be on break?

They found Hidetada in the office, sitting on the windowsill with a pile of jackets around him, a needle and two thread rolls in black and red. He was fixing clothes, apparently, which Dino found completely adorable and Reborn said was _not fitting for a mafia boss_. Surprisingly enough, Smoking Bomb Hayato was sitting next to the windowsill, surrounded by papers and throwing questions at Hidetada, though he went quiet immediately when Hibari walked in.

"...The sword herbivore is not here," Hibari said, quietly, to which Hidetada lifted the needle in his hand and into the light. Whatever that meant, the leader (?) of the school just nodded and, after sitting at the desk, motioned for Dino to join him.

He had been confused, at first. Then, he was offered tea by the Kusakabe boy (coffee for Hidetada and Reborn) and, after they had all settled down (even Gokudera, who found his place next to Hidetada), Hibari decided to open up the conversation.

"I heard you are here to kidnap my subordinate."

Which lead them to this moment. Dino doesn't quite know what to answer and Reborn is, as usual, not helping. Gokudera is still as a statue (weird, since he is always an energetic child), Hidetada doesn't look like he cares enough to look away from the window, and Romario and the Kusakabe kid are stuck in a staring match. The silence is overwhelming and, for the first time since he arrived Namimori, Dino feels the wrongness that Reborn has been speaking about since they met again.

"You know," Hidetada says, quietly. His voice is _so soft_ Dino has a hard time hearing him, especially since he is still looking out of the window. "There really is no reason for you to be here-," ow, that hurts, Hidetada! And he, who came all the way from Italy, just to see you- "Hibari- _sempai_."

Dino feels Reborn stiffen next to him and senses a sudden shift in the mood. Gokudera's eyes widen, the boy leader raises to his feet and Kusakabe just raises an eyebrow like he had been expecting that. The tension in the room is palpable.

"Are you defying me, Sawada Hidetada." Hibari is holding a metal tonfa in his hand, and though he looks completely impassive, there is something in his eyes that reveals _anger_.

"No, no!" Ah, there it is. Hidetada's rumored panic, as he drops the needle and the jacket he was holding, jumps to his feet and waves his arms around. This, Dino can deal with. This, is what he was in the past, not the obedient little soldier Hidetada has projected to be the few times Dino has seen him in the street. "It is just- ah, the paperwork is done, and it is saturday- Classes haven't started yet, you are probably busy elsewhere, right?"

"I think," says Kusakabe, whose voice seems to hold a calming effect on the prefect, "what Hidetada means to say, is that we can deal with things here. Kyoya- _san_ shouldn't need to worry about school on break."

...But everyone else should? Dino is pretty sure every single one of the students they saw in the hallway were members of the so called Disciplinary Committee. Working extra time for a school club, their dedication is amazing, but also terrifying. If this child, this Hibari Kyoya, can amass a micro-army when they are supposed to be having fun with their friends and family, then what else can he _do_?

It takes a few more words to convince Hibari to leave, through which Dino remains silent. Reborn cuts in once, when it looks like Hidetada is ready to give up to chastise him about how _mafia bosses never let other control their lives_ , to which Hibari gives an angry huff (and responds with _'Namimori citizens shouldn't let outsiders tell them what to do'_ ). In the end, Hibari takes a file from the desk and storms off, claiming he will be at the rooftop _fixing_ Hidetada and Tsunayoshi's schedules.

Petty. Yet, effective. Surprisingly so, Hidetada cries out in despair and drops his weight on Gokudera, who pats his back with an insult towards Hibari ( _that micromanaging son of a-_ ). Still, after Kusakabe leaves with a promise to not let Hibari- _san_ ruin Hidetada's life too much, the supposed Vongola Decimo drags himself to the desk and, after dumping all the unmended jackets on it, lets himself slump on the chair.

"Hide." Reborn jumps off Dino's shoulder and onto Hidetada head, slapping him with a Leon-slipper. "You are too obedient."

"Submissive, really," Dino feels he needs to add. If this is Vongola's future, then the chance they get dragged along into ruin is high. He smiles. "No disposition or presence to be Boss. Lacks personality and self-esteem, too! No strength behind your words, no conviction; how you are right now you will fail as a leader!"

He sees Hidetada and Gokudera flinch at each comment and Dino finds it hilarious that Gokudera seems used to his future boss's breakdowns. If the bomber has to deal with the boy clinging to him and sobbing into his chest every time something like this happens, he guesses Gokudera will end up developing a soft side he didn't have. But, dear, oh dear, Hidetada looks completely _weak_ and _worthless_ crying about this.

" _I'm sorry I was born to hide_ ," says _Hide_ tada, in English, and even though the joke doesn't sound well when spoken, Dino still has to laugh.

Reborn has a lot of work to do.

* * *

 

**044**

**Date /**

**A trip to the zoo**

It is Kyoko. Sasagawa Kyoko.

She, Tsuna's other best friend (he has four, out of which one hates him, two are indifferent and the other... is Kyoko), is standing by the Zoo's gates holding on to a small bag. She looks _adorable_ , with a fluffy winter dress that reaches her knees and a pale white jacket with too much cotton. Still, she is Sasagawa Kyoko, who looks up at him and _smiles_ , and Hide feels his heart melt at the sight of it.

Out of all the people Reborn and Dino could have set him up on a blind date with, it had to be the one who is four years younger and had a murder protective older brother. Yes. This makes Perfect Sense, thank you, Reborn. It couldn't have been _Haru_ , who Hide actually likes. Of course it couldn't have: Reborn's whole existence is made out of making Hide suffer and the world love the lack of Hide's happiness. Sadist baby. Sadist, hell born baby.

"Kyoko- _chan_." He reaches for her, feeling the gap of all four years between them as he takes her hand in his to kiss the back of it, and he feels some people look at them and _giggle_. Probably old women, or some of the most family-oriented men. Or maybe even some DC members who just want to gather more and more blackmail material on Hide to finally get him off the committee ( _but you see, he is a pedophile, Hibari-_ san _!_ ). "I'm sorry it is me you have to spend your day with."

Kyoko is, above all, Tsuna's best friend. Then, she is a Sasagawa, so it isn't like he can just dump her here on the basis of her being too _young_. Michiko- _san_ would kill him, and probably half of Namimori Elementary would come after his skin if he dares hurt, in anyway, the little princess.

"That's alright," and she is _blushing_ , pale pink and adorable, and she looks more and more like a doll every passing day. She will be gorgeous when she fully matures, but Hide isn't attracted to light hair or pre-pubescent girls, so he can appreciate her for what she is: a cute, adorable little girl with a fashion sense and a flourishing interest in cool things. "Hana has a meeting with her father and o _nii-san_ is defending some dojo, so I don't have anything to do today. Thank you, Hide- _nii_."

She has gotten more articulate, too. A few months ago, she could barely speak in his presence, and that's _great_ because that means he can talk to her about _cool things_ like detective novels and gossip about Haru. Not that Hide needs to gossip about Haru, but girls tell other girls things they can't tell boys, right? He doesn't understand how relationships work.

"Well, shall we?"

Her hand stays in his as they go into the Zoo and past the big habitats set up for the foreign animals in them. Most of them are not native to Namimori- to Japan, but then again, nothing is really native to Japan. Namimori has lots of dogs and cats and some or other bird and snake, nothing else.

He keeps Kyoko away from Reborn and Bianchi, who are fighting with the zookeepers over the native land of Comodo dragons and the benefits of eating shark, respectively. Reborn had been wanting to get a dragon for a while now, for some reason (his lizard family in the back of the house _keeps growing_ ), so he doesn't doubt it is for his new pet project. Bianchi... well, he doesn't know why anyone would want to eat shark. Isn't it bad for human health?

When he asks Kyoko, she laughs, and then pulls him away to look at the giraffes. Just in time, too, because the silver haired _jerk_ at the aquarium building keeps throwing them hateful looks whenever they mention even daring to hurt sharks.

They find Hana and her mother in the insectarium, looking at the mantises. They are well dressed due to meeting up with whoever Hana's father is in a short while, so Kyoko gets to fuss over Hana's hair for a few minutes, much to her mother's pleasure. Kurokawa Fuyuka looks as prim and beautiful as she always does, hair pulled back in an intricate bun with two _kanzashi_ keeping it together, and a plum colored _kimono_ that gives her the sort of _queen_ aura Hide admires. Hana herself looks uncomfortable in her out-of-time clothes and thick scarf, so she throws a few insults to Hide to make them leave.

They walk past Hibari Masato, looking tired and happy as always, while going through the spiders. As much as the Sovereign wants to comment on everything he does to whoever stands for longer than a second by his side, Kyoko always looks uncomfortable around new people (specially _important_ people). They bow to the man (who, after bowing back, captures a passing couple's arms to talk to them about the habits of the Chilean tarantula) and leave the too-small-living beings building to head for the big hunters area.

Or rather, not-hunters, as most of them seem to be hiding. Kyoko sighs, sadly, as she tries to coax the baby leopard closer. Hide can only look in fear as Kyoko pets the leopard's head a few times through the fence until a zookeeper shoos her off in worry.

The walk by each of the big felines, disappointed. None seem to be in a mood to deal with humans and are, instead, curled up inside their small man-made houses. With the exception of a baby lion (Natsu, he seems to be called) who is chasing after a ball and playing with one of the zookeepers, there are no other cats to be seen.

Kyoko is disappointed.

"I like lynxes," she says, looking mournfully at said lynxes napping up in a tree. "They are kind of like Hide- _nii_ , but with more fur."

"I prefer wolves myself, though." Though, if he were to be honest, he has a rare love for cute things like koalas. Takeshi _didn't stop laughing_ when he told him about it. He can't help it, koalas are cute, and he wants to go to Australia someday. "But I guess I can see what you mean."

"Cute and bright," she says, and that is that.

She starts poking at the fence with a stick, showing terrible zoo-manners, in hopes of attracting one of the cats closer. Hide holds her free hand and tries to project an aura of knight he knows is fake.

The lynxes never move, sadly, so they join the crowd of children watching Natsu play with his caretaker. Hide doesn't know if animals have feelings, but he has to smile at the warm _contentedness_ rolling off the baby lion and, apparently, the caretaker. Free feelings for playing with your baby lion!

When they walk off to go look at serpents, they meet Tsuna. Or rather, they see Tsuna, sitting in a bench and sharing a _single_ cup of hot chocolate with the blood-red haired kid next to him while the both of them chat happily into a phone. Hide feels so wronged right now, he didn't even _know_ Enma was back in town, and yet here he is, hogging Tsuna's attention after Tsuna said he was too tired to go anywhere today.

Why is the kid back? It isn't even his usual visiting time, since it is still cold and he doubts _anyone_ would want to travel by ship in this weather. Isn't it about time the other creepy kid visited, anyway?

Enma says something into the phone, blushing, and Tsuna smiles _so bright_ Hide feels himself go blind from it. Except not, because Tsuna is pressing his lips against the corner of Enma's mouth and _what_. No, denial, stop, the _thing_ has no right to feel _jealous_ when Hide is the one who has to see this!

"Cute boys," Kyoko says, giggling, and Hide believes her hand in his and her permanent, neutral feeling of _agape_ is the only thing keeping him grounded. "Tsuna- _kun_ did say Enma was visiting."

"He told _you_?" He whines, and pouts, and she laughs again.

* * *

**045**

**Sakura,**

**side A**

If there is one thing Kozato Enma (the one from this particular parallel world) is sure of, is that their lives were a complete and absolute mess. Theirs, as in Tsuna's and Byakuran's and Enma himself, who are the only ones who really noticed the underlying feeling of _dread_ gathering under each event related to one Vongola Decimo. Like some dark, heavy mud that coated everything around the bright orange Sky flame that was said to be the strongest of the world.

Either way, it isn't like the _dread_ and mafia-esque business was all that clear to Enma. He can feel it because Tsuna and Byakuran have drilled it into his head: there is something inherently wrong with everything that is _Vongola_ , though he is supposed to ignore it. Like when they tell you there is a mistake in your homework and you _only_ notice it when you are told: such a small problem, accepted as correct by the mind that can't see further from what _you believe is right_.

Enma wants to believe everything in this world is right, so he doesn't go out of his way to look for problems like Byakuran does. Enma wants to _believe_ the relevant roles on this world are correct, so he doesn't go out of his way to _fix_ it like Dae- _san_ and, at times, Tsuna do.

Tsuna was the Vongola back-up heir (and Dae- _san_ wouldn't let Tsuna get away from the mafia for too long) and Byakuran was the Mare Guardian (across the multiverse, if it could be believed, _except in two or three branches where everything went wrong!_ ), but Enma is Simon before he is Kozato and it is their nature to stay neutral about all business related to the mafia. He cannot, will not and should not get involved with it, lest Father has a heart attack when he realizes Enma wants to go against all their teachings and get involved in the hellworld that is the mafia, again.

Mami wants to. It has been her wish since young to waltz between the higher ladders of underworld society, to try her hand against the corruption and twisted worldviews that are central to Italy. If it wasn't for Mami's complete devotion for Father, she would probably have run away already if only to test her skills against the more trained Guardians of their family, or maybe find a sweetheart she can steadily manipulate into greatness. Or something.

The Simon are... probably the nicest, most well meaning underground organization in this world. He is pretty sure their smuggling and trafficking of ancient art pieces, stones and other _pretty_ things is still illegal, but they are... honest? To a fault? Besides Mother's counterfeit business and some or other _gentleman_ involved with their family, Enma has never seen anything like, say, Tsuna's Father who... is a professional liar.

Oh, alright, Mother is a professional liar as well, so is the Suzuki matriarch, but at least everyone involved with the Simon keeps their children with a vague notion of what their family _is._ Sawada _Iemitsu_ is not, in anyway, like Tsunayoshi or Hidetada who cannot lie about their business to each other (unless it involves Dae- _san_ and/or Giotto di Vongola, so basically, anything involving each other's status as mafia heirs in training is kept tightly under wraps), or even like Nana who, though really secretive, cannot tell an outright lie to save her life.

Enma is quite sure life would be easier if _everyone_ was either taught to lie splendidly (like he is, though he doesn't _like_ to) or simply not lie at all. The differences between an honest, terrible person, a honest though well meaning person, a lying person who wants to do their best for everyone and a lying person who lies for _fun_ are too great to be dismissed. Luckily, most of the people he knows are in the first three, and thus tolerable or easy to deal with, except Byakuran, who has made it his life mission to mislead everyone he meets.

Either way, liars or not, Namimori is the one place where Enma feels both at ease and paranoid enough to carry a mini-flamethrower with him (it is a lighter, but the flame is too strong to be used as anything), yet allow himself to be distracted. The fault of Namimori lays on the half of her citizens that don't know anything about the mafia or the underworld, and the few outsiders who dare _believe_ Namimori is somewhere you can get away with breaking the law.

You cannot.

Enma is not sure if Tsuna is breaking the law by being an _Arcobaleno_ , or if Enma himself is breaking it by being associated to the one family that was _never supposed to walk into Namimori_ , but well. He is not supposed to know about that. He is only ten years old and in training for replica making, not anything else. He could claim all allegiance to the Simon on a stand with a high range megaphone and still get away with everything _because_ he is a) ten years old, b) not even in the records and c) Sawada Tsunayoshi's best friend and he can do whatever he wants.

He wants to throw his hands up and give in to all the nonsense that is the _clear favoritism_ from Hibari Kyoya towards Tsuna. He has seen cute things and heard terrible rumors, though, so he is pretty sure the Hibari's favoritism is not just for Tsuna, but also for everyone in the Sawada family.

Except Reborn. Reborn is not a Sawada.

Neither is, apparently, Dino Cavallone _or_ any of his subordinates.

" _We should tell the authorities, Tsunayoshi_ ," says Daemon Spade, looking like some kind of awkward jacket wrapped all over Tsuna. His voice is far reaching, loud in the _silence_ that surrounds them and, well, Enma has never heard Dae- _san_ speaking out loud to anyone.

There is a reason.

There is a body.

The body is twisted, mangled beyond recognition (it isn't even human from his view). An arm seems to sprout from its chest, and a head (disfigured, gone, just faceless skin over what would be a skull) hangs from a bent branch a couple centimeters from where the neck would be. A leg, bent backwards then forwards in a _painful_ zigzag, is stuck in a tree- there is no other leg. Slash, slashes show under the ripped clothing, small slashes, big slashes, no longer bleeding and never scarring. There should be blood, but there is none, no trail no pool- actually, there is a trail of torn cloth- no, that is nerve and muscle tissue and _bone_ towards the other arm.

Bone. Skin ripped off the bone, peeled off so carefully, so beautifully, like some _sick ritual_. Bone and nerves, tied together, unconnected to the main body but-

They (innocent children) should be scared. Terrified into unmoving. Shocked out of themselves. Screaming for their lives after seeing such a picture, except Tsuna doesn't believe in corpses ( _they are all puppets, Enma_ ) and Enma... well, Enma _is_ going into shock. That is what shock feels like, right? Where is the panic, the _fear_ , that should be settling into his heart?

He feels numb and empty, and something belatedly _clicks_ into his mind. _Ah_ , his mind says, _look, this happened while it was alive_ , it tells him, showing him events he doesn't want to see.

His imagination may be a little too strong, and he feels like throwing up.

"We need Hibari- _san_ ," Tsuna says, quietly, reaching for Enma's hand and squeezing tightly. _Ground yourself,_ it says, _come back to me_ , and Enma does, clinging to Tsuna and letting his mind wander off.

He feels the earth reach for the corpse. _Why_ , he wants to ask, even as he invites the mist into his mind.

* * *

**045**

**Sakura,**

**side B**

The question of all years, for Hibari Kyoya, is _why_ do they need to go sakura viewing. Yes, sakura are pretty, yes, it is tradition, but letting one day of work go in favor of this _complete nonsense event_ makes him feel rather useless. He loves sakura as much as the next person, and knows the sakura in Namimori are especially bright compared to other cities, but he doesn't understand.

Not that there is anything to do, really. Things have been slow since the baby carnivore decided to abide to the rules (he is being a _good_ mentor now, instead of aiming to kill his student 3 out of 5 times), and Kyoya hasn't had had much to do besides disciplining some annoying visiting outsiders. They drop by, occasionally, unregistered since they stay only for a couple of days, but they dare threaten the safety and peace of Namimori, which Kyoya just won't allow.

One of these two-three day visitor, unregistered outsider has been here for longer, though. Kozato Enma is one devious child, yet he is, unfortunately, too sneaky for Kyoya to catch. It doesn't help that his freaky father gets along terrifyingly well with Kyoya's own manchild of a father (hah, Makoto and Masato. It must be a joke of fate). He is pretty sure K- _san_ is having an aneurysm at the presence of a Simon, a Cavallone _and_ the sun baby, in the same city at the same time.

Kyoya is so glad he stopped caring about all things Mister K. He has no relation to _Kokuyo_ , which doesn't exist, so he doesn't need to care about its nonexistent Judge with his ridiculous flower crown and his _crowding children._ So what if he is angry about three, _three_ too many outsiders in town? Kyoya approves of them, they are all strong enough to protect themselves (yes, _even_ the Simon kid. He is like a ghost, so it isn't like Kyoya could catch him. Besides, he is Tsunayoshi's friend).

Ages ago, Kyoya promised himself he wouldn't interfere in his family's drama (both mother and brother-father had weird relationships with everyone; Kyoya is glad for his apathy). The same ages ago, he told himself since there was no such thing as _Kokuyo_ , there was no need for him to listen to the Judge. In fact, going _against_ the Judge has become Kyoya's way of life, and since he is the Hibari heir and also immune to the mind-poison in the island, he can get away with _everything_.

Except, maybe, keeping the Seer for his own.

Either of the Seers, in any way. Though he was promised Sawada Tsunayoshi, he knows in the end both Sawada siblings will become mafia in some way or other. He is no Seer himself (the mere belief that Seers exist is stupid, but Kyoya is Namimori-raised, so he believes things can happen), but somehow he knows that the Vongola _famiglia_ is waiting for a trainwreck to happen. And they are not ready for it.

Maybe he should have kept a closer eye on the mafia that dares to invade his town. Maybe, he should keep closer watch on Renato Sinclair, as he is the one all trouble seems to circle around as of late. Maybe, he should have been more thorough when briefing the Cavallone boss' people about the rules of the town.

Sakura viewing has turned into a corpse festival.

Well, there is only one corpse. It is in the worst place possible, though, and he should have asked Hidetada to keep a closer eye on his brother. The boy (boys, since Kozato junior was also there) had gone off to secure a good location for his family's small celebration, and instead found a body dismembered under the trees atop the hill.

"Question the baby animals," he says to his second in command (Tetsuya is a little too used to this sight), even as he lowers to his knees to inspect the body. "Don't let anyone come up here."

Dismembered. Probably tortured, too. And, he can guess the culprit, from the _urge_ he has to turn around and forget about everything. Curse that man and his _ridiculous_ ways of keeping the peace. Unfortunately, Kyoya is immune to the Judge's mind tricks, so he can focus and remember everything that is in his sight as of now.

The DC is building a barrier around the hill. He can hear Tetsuya farther away, asking the children how, why and when, yet he doubts they will be able to say anything of use. If it is, indeed, the Judge, then both of them will have forgotten about the corpse the moment they took their eyes off it (he has his doubts about Tsunayoshi. The boy always knows too much).

At times, he wants to curse being a Hibari. Other times, he wants to blame being his father's child.

However, this time, there is only one person to blame.

_Judge Kawahira_.

* * *

**046**

**Longchamp**

The return to class is as normal as always. Luckily. Hide doesn't know what he would do if the _return to normalcy_ was also ruined by the spring's events.

Don't get him wrong, please. Dino- _san_ 's arrival was a good motive for him to get a few free days, but the craziness that Dino brought along with him was a little too much. Even then, he doesn't _know_ what Dino did to make Hibari so mad at -or pleased with- him: Hibari had given Dino a temporary residence and right to come and go as he pleases.

It must have been a huge deal.

Now, however, is the beginning of his second year at Middle school and he feels really happy he made it this far.

There is a new student in their class. His name is Naito Longchamp and, if Reborn can be believed (which he is, always), is the eight heir to one of Vongola's strongest economic rivals.

Apparently, the Tomaso empire ruled over half of North Italy and they had been unwilling to form a trade alliance with the Vongola, so they had been in a peaceful rivalness since about two generations back. That is, _after_ a gigantic blood feud that went on for six or five generations because of a territorial dispute.

He is fine with this. He is fine with _everything_ right now, more Mafia children appearing in his life is completely acceptable.

What he cannot deal with is Naito trying to make friends with him.

For all he claims to be under _sanctuary_ and thus, tied to the social circle of Namimori that was the opposite half of Hide's own, Longchamp doesn't seem to have listened to Namimori Middle's gossip all that much. Yes, the both of them are mafia heirs in training, yes, they are in the same class, but interacting with a Sawada (and at times, even Takeshi) was seen as an immediate reason to be an outcast.

Hide is pretty... not popular, no, but at least accepted, in _his_ half of the community: old town members, children of Kokuyo that migrated over, descendants of the old clan (except the Miuras, but mostly because Haru's father is an overprotective _freak_ ) and allies of the Hibari family that, through the ages, have fallen into _respect_ for him that he wasn't expecting. The other half, though, is the same as always. Even the great majority of the DC that belongs to it don't look at him any different than just _a creepy old town heir_ when he is not wearing his armband.

He has gotten used to it. After months, Gokudera has gotten used to it as well, and now proudly walks by his side like the stares and whispers didn't bother him. Takeshi doesn't count, since he is pretty much forsaken by anyone who isn't family or sport clubs. Yet, Hide doesn't think he will tolerate it if _another_ outsider gets bad reputation because of him.

"No," he wants to say Longchamp when he asks if they can go have a friendly chat later. He has duties to attend to, training and Reborn-made hell to get through. "No," he wants to say the following day as well, and the following week, but by the fourth day he is tired already and giving up to his well-hidden need to socialize with someone else related to the _mafia_.

Longchamp isn't here to try to kill him. He is just under sanctuary. He has limited rights and limited places to go to, but that doesn't mean he's any less a mafia heir. That doesn't mean he's any less a _human_ , a teenager Hide's age and in similar situation, and, really, Hide is tired of Namimori.

"What's the outside like?" He asks, smiling, over a cup of coffee. Takeshi sits next to him, also happy he was invited, though he is stuck in a fork fight with the creepy girl that follows Longchamp around everywhere. Pantera, they think her name is, she doesn't speak much.

"Ah- Oh, right, you have never been out, have you?" Longchamp has all the right to look confused, if Hide knows a little about outside people. While Bianchi and Reborn have worked hard to improve his understanding of Namimori's _extreme_ isolationism, he still doesn't quite get it. "Well, I have lived in Japan most of my life, but I have traveled a lot-"

"So, so, have you been to Hokkaido? Kyoto? _Tokyo_?" Good Heavens, he is pathetic, isn't he? He probably sounds desperate for information -which he is. How can he be boss over an _Italian_ organization if he knows nothing about his own country? "Italy?"

"All those, and much more!" Longchamp _grins_ , and for once Hide feels the world will be fine.

"Can you tell me about it? I have been meaning to visit, someday-"

Wait, Hide has never really, really thought about leaving ( _wait, no, that's wrong_ ). He wants to visit some places, see things that are not in his small world (koalas), but permanently leaving Japan or even Namimori ( _no-_ ) has never crossed his mind.

He doesn't know how he will deal with going outside, how will he deal with going to _Italy_ when he can't even believe there is something outside of-

_wrong_

_Wait what is wrong? There is nothing out of Namimori, Namimori is safe, home, why would you even want to leave-_

Longchamp is giving him a small, sad smile. Even Takeshi and the girl are looking at him, and, well, what is he supposed to do about that? There is nothing _wrong_ here, all is _normal safe peaceful Namimori-_

"Say, were you born in Namimori?" Longchamp asks, dropping his hand to his bag, and Hide's eyes narrow as he reaches for his staff. "We discovered something cool when researching about it."

"...no? I think not, I was born in Dubl-"

**Bang**.

_Ah_.

* * *

**046.b**

**Memories /**

**Despair**

He _feels_ the bullet going into his head, unlike the Dying WIll bullet, which feels like just strong wind piercing his brain. This one, though, he _feels_ it, into his head, into his heart, his very _soul_ , searching and unraveling all he could ever have considered _despair inducing-_

**Click** , and some memory of the past comes forth, letting him see it for the first time. **Click** , and Sasagawa Michiko is leaning over him, a finger lit up in deep blue. **Click** , and his mother screams from somewhere else as a wave of _dark blue purple blue_ envelopes him and his mind-

_Why-_

**Click**. He is four and seeing his baby brother for the first time. He is four and the feeling of _wrongness_ invades his being from all sides. **Click** , like a camera's shutter, and the image is embedded into his mind with _love care tenderness_ , blanketing over the sense of _hatehatehate_ lying on his heart-

_No-!_

**Snap** , as he is a child and _sees_ the old man handing his baby, baby small little brother a _black black tainted pacifier_. _Curse fate curse the gods curse_ _ **everything**_ **snap**. Why can't anyone else _see_ the black cloud hanging over Tsuna, over himself, over everyone close to them _black tainted corruption_ _snowing on the land_ -

_Stop!_

**Click** goes something deep inside him, orange and glowing and shaped like _flames he can't feel he can't see he has lost so much_. His empathy sealed and the world is _blank blank blank_ _**wrong**_ the old man, Vongola Nono, whispers sadly he is sorry sorry _so sorry_ he can't even feel his _own feelings-_

_Help…!_

**Click** , as his heart is bound to a set of words, his name is lost, his _whole being becomes the city_ and he _can't see can't hear can't feel_ anything wrong anything right everything is as it _should be has to be empty chained to duty_ your name is Sawada Hidetada and you _belong to_ _ **Namimori**_ -

_Hah…_

**Click** and he is nine _he is nine_ and in prison _**welcome**_ _child_ the man greets from his bandages and his _non existence he is dead dead corpse walking_ Hibari Kyoya looks at him and _nods_ and the cold _cold_ body is thrown away _outsider_ _ **intruder get out**_ _-_

_get out_

**Crash** his mind goes crashing down on itself _dark black flames_ around his **brother** and _ **Giotto**_ _warm warm caramel safe_ reaches for his mind and _pulls something_ _ **out**_ _shoves something_ _ **aside**_ _-_

_it is so dark who is he he can't see anything can't feel anything can't hear anything he knows_ _ **one thing**_ : you are _not-_

**Snap** something wraps around him heavy and duty bound he is eleven and by the sea yet he _belongs here here is safe here is the safest place in earth_ _ **don't leave don't go don't think about it**_ _-_

( _anomaly_ the man calls him an **anomaly** of time space of the multiverse _itself_ )

_**Where is the kid**_ the man asks the man _dares touch him_ there is a howl a pained yelp a orange sphere _pacifier shatters in the ground_ _ **why is everything so dark**_ -

_Where is Luce's heir._

The ground burns the building _burns_ Tsuna's hands are _covered in black black tainted flames flames feelings memories out of place out of time this is_ _ **all wrong**_ _-_

_This is only a trial run_ , the man says and Hide's memories _sink_ into his mind _along with Tsuna's life Arcobaleno don't live long do they-_

_That's right-_

**crunch** there is a dead body in _sensei_ 's arm and he can't won't do anything about it because he _forgets right away_

_-this is-_

_**You really love your family**_ **, don't you, Hidetada** , the gun fires and his _mother is dead no she isn't I'm sorry I didn't mean to try-_ and his memories slip away _again_

_-Namimori_

* * *

 

**046.ex**

**_Asari_ Takeshi**

The air goes cold and Takeshi hates the cold.

Hide is suffering and Takeshi hates seeing Hide suffer he hates seeing _people suffer Gods why-_

( _'Wanna run away together?'_ Hide asks quietly from the other side of the gate, was Namimori always surrounded by the _sea_? ' _We really don't have a future here, do we?_ '

No, they don't, but running away is _prohibited_ _by law._ )

His memories are _a mess and Takeshi_ _ **hates**_ _K-_ who did he hate, again? _needles he hates needles needles on the fire his mother-_

Hide's eyes are empty and misted over and Takeshi _hates seeing that look in his father-_ no, his father has never looked like this no wait _he has when he doesn't want to think doesn't want to see missing missing_ _ **we are sorry**_ _-_

(' _Asari, uh,'_ Hide smiles brightly and Takeshi grins back. ' _That's a legend right there_.'

It is. And well, if his mother -both of them- could do it, then what is stopping him from _leaving this hell of an island_?)

_What is real_ , he wants to ask to himself, to his mind, to Hide who has always been there. Their memories are almost the same, yet they remember everything _wrong_. _Did they_ _ **try**_ _to run away_? _Did his mother go missing or did she die, does his father disappear every few months, does the world know what is_ _ **going on**_ _?_

( _'You think we can swim over?_ ' How far is Japan from Namimori? How far is their freedom?)

_mist across your eyes_

_see what you need to see_

_this is safe_

_this is namimori_

_this is home_

Yet it never felt like home. He is _Asari Takeshi and he doesn't belong to Namimori because everyone in Namimori is- needles fire water falling tears_

And he is just remembering it now. Not anything important, though, but- _screams screams fingers breaking slowly breaking slowly tearing apart-_

(He is seven and they tell him _sorry, she won't make it_. He is eight and his _dead_ _mother_ calls through the phone, _I'm sorry, Takeshi, I really couldn't stay there, I'm safe, don't look for me_ yet he... forgets about it _._ He is ten and he tries to _kill himself_ and- soon forgets about it. He… is thirteen and the Judge over Kokuyo shows up at his door once again, smiling, and- and-

_needles-_

He doesn't remember.)

Words carved into his mind:

_remember only what you need to remember_

* * *

**047  
**

**Hoarders**

Apparently, the people raised _outside_ of Namimori are naturally immune to the mind poison that sprouted from the land. For an outsider to truly become part of Namimori, they have to spend a long while in its midst, which is probably why Sawada Nana isn't able to see anything wrong with the town as it is. The same couldn't be said about Hidetada, who was born outside but raised inside the nonexistent piece of land that is Namimori.

Lunga was born in Namimori. It had taken the Tomaso years to correct and heal the mental damage that six years in the town had done to him, and even then he was still a bit… wrong. Pantera, who had gone through lots of shit before her father had simply handed her over to Longchamp, was _better_ than Lunga would ever be, and she had been with them for just two years.

The Tomaso hate the Vongola, but they hate Namimori more. The dealings going in inside the closed town aren't completely known to them, but what they have seen in their short dealings with the Hibari elders, some or other refugee who was strong enough to speak and some conversations with Sawada Iemitsu, are enough to make the Tomaso absolutely _dread_ anything related to Namimori.

It was, probably, Yamamoto Kou that brought to light the sheer wrongness that was the town. When she had appeared in his house, almost dead and carrying a catatonic Lunga with her, she had begged them to _please_ , never say anything about her survival to anyone. Her name and history were a mystery to them, to all of them except to Longchamp's father, who had immediately sent a small team to scout the town.

They never came back.

Longchamp was raised in Japan. Never, through his seven years of education, did he hear anything about Namimori or anything about the unmapped islands south of Shikoku. They simply didn't exist, to historians, to cartographers. The only proof they had that there was a place such as Namimori was Yamamoto- _san_ 's words and the occasional appearance in social circles of the Hibari couple.

And then, there was Sawada Iemitsu.

Naito Senior _hated_ Sawada Iemitsu, but it was clear that, if they wanted to learn anything about Namimori, asking him was a necessity. Getting him drunk enough for his mind to dig into the sealed off memories wasn't an easy task, apparently, but he had said enough through the years.

Longchamp had offered to be the one to investigate the town. A heir under seek of sanctuary was, definitely, the easiest and safest way to get inside the island (it was an island, and no citizen seemed to realize that). So he had enrolled into Namimori Middle, bypassing the obvious choice of Yumei Private for his social standing, and definitely ignoring Kokuyo for its reputation. He had been lucky he had ended up sharing a class with the Vongola heir and Yamamoto- _san_ 's son.

The despair bullet was probably the easiest way he had to get into the minds of any outsider who had their minds tampered with by whoever ruled over Namimori. Shooting Hidetada had been a sudden choice upon seeing the completely _lost_ look he had in his face when speaking about going _outside_. He doesn't know if the same will work for anyone else (Yamamoto Takeshi, for instance, who _didn't see anything wrong in anything_ ), but he considers his preliminary experiment a success.

Now, however, Hidetada hasn't moved from his bed in days. Longchamp wonders if, maybe, it would have been better to work on him slowly, but at times a great shock is better than going through smallest ones as your memory comes back (Lunga had known two emotions: catatonic and _fear_ , and Longchamp doesn't want to see that again). Yamamoto is also, probably, noticing things, as he has been sitting by Hidetada for hours now, only moving if he needs to.

"Did Mamma die."

"No, I don't think so."

"Did yours?"

"Probably not, either."

It has been like that for days.

As much as Longchamp feels terrible, he also feels this to be a necessary evil. Besides, it lets him meet Tsunayoshi, who is also an apparently really messed up Namimori child.

He is also a hoarder of all things pretty, which Longchamp believes is a _really_ fine hobby.

* * *

A snake rests on a statue of itself, humming a long forgotten tune to the being sitting next to it. There are flowers and children and some masked people around, yet the snake is the only one who can speak.

"What a sad day this is, Shokaku," the snake says to the bird lying dead before it. "It seems I have lost one of my pawns.

"Centuries taking _care_ of them, only for one to be snatched by a barely grown child," it laments, twirling a dying flower in its tail. "Do you think it is my fault, Mistress Judge?"

The bird is dead, so it doesn't answer. It has been dead for centuries, now, but no one really cares that its opposite seems to be taking care of its duties.

The snake smiles. "You are right. It is not."

Not its fault. Never its fault.

The snake is named Kawahira and it is _always right_.

* * *

**048**

**Lock**

Tsuna's room is some sort of dragon hoard for all kind of things. If Fuuta had to rank it, it would rank in the first places of _rooms where you could find the Holy Grail_ _under the bed_ , yes, that is how messy it is. It is nice, though: cluttered places make it easier for Fuuta to hide things, like his gun, and stash away candy in random places.

Being Tsuna's room means it is also Daemon's room, and now, Fuuta's room. He doesn't quite understand how are they still alive.

After whatever had happened with Naito Longchamp was over, Hide had become an hermit. Or rather, he had become Tsuna, since he rarely left the room he had confined himself in and spent long hours with Hayato and Takeshi pouring over maps and the internet. Lambo and I-pin joined them, occasionally, but mostly it was just the three stooges (as Hana had taken to calling them). Reborn rarely showed up in the house anymore, as did Bianchi, but from the high number of unconscious bodies showing up near the house, it isn't hard to guess what they are doing.

Everyone is walking on eggshells around each other. Bianchi seems to be the only one at ease with Reborn, who is snappish about everything. Lambo and I-pin have banded together to cheer everyone up by preparing sweets, which is cute, but Hide doesn't want to _look_ at Mamma, Mamma doesn't want to listen to anyone (she has taken to drinking far into the night, making Tsuna take over breakfast duty) and Tsuna… well, Tsuna has been even more quiet than usual ever since that sakura viewing day.

Of course, since the Sawadas all forced themselves into close quarters with each other, they have become completely intolerable about anything. Don't you _dare_ talk to Hide if he doesn't talk to you first, don't cross Tsuna's path when he is playing mind chess with Daemon, don't interrupt Nana when she is cleaning her guns. The three of them have friends to calm them down, fortunately, or else they would have killed something a while back (and that's not an hyperbole).

Fuuta has been talking with the girls (Haru, Kyoko and Hana), who know something _big_ has happened. Neither of them know what, exactly, but all three suppose it has something to do with whatever secret Hide and Tsuna have been keeping all their lives. Irie Shouichi doesn't care enough to talk to Fuuta, but when he showed interest in the new game set up in the computer ( _Choice_ , it is called), the teenager had taught him how to play. Byakuran called every couple of days, but there had been no peep from Enma since he left.

The most shocking one was Doctor Shamal, though, who visited every few days to join Mamma in her drinking or chat with Reborn. Hayato, too, joined his sister in extremely clandestine drinking and occasionally shared a smoke with Mamma Sawada. Even Yamamoto Tsuyoshi send in _sushi_ with Takeshi as a way to cheer all of them up.

It had been, overall, a great few weeks of bonding for the Sawada family and Vongola-related guests, even at the cost of their sanity and who knows what else. And, through all of it, Daemon had taken in Fuuta as his temporal disciple while everything slowed back to normality.

_We shouldn't need this kind of seal_ , Daemon is saying as he struggles to replace the thing around the house. Fuuta doesn't quite know what it is meant to keep _in_ , but he knows it is meant to keep prying eyes and uninvited guests out. _It is necessary, though. Everything is so sad, lately._

Fuuta doesn't really know what to feel about the ghost. He is a ghost, and thus defies all law of normality (not even the ranking planet can rank ghosts), but he is also _not_ a ghost (he is rank-able, but only his flames) nor a spirit. Hide calls him a _psychotic parasite_ , Irie- _san_ calls him a _collective hallucination_ and Tsuna has taken to call him _the other one_ when he doesn't call him by name. The other one what, he doesn't know: the other half? The other Daemon? The other _Tsuna_?

_Starling_ , Daemon says, using that infuriating nickname of his. Fuuta has been called an alien enough times already to tolerate Daemon's nicknames, but he knows he means the bird, not the alien. _Give your flame here, please._

That's another thing from Daemon Fuuta simply cannot get used to. Daemon assumes everyone will do what he tells them to, which they might, but at times his assumption that he has complete obedience from everyone around him is extremely annoying. Even so, Fuuta does press his hand against the door and lets his flames gather under his palm. There is a reason for everything Daemon says and does, after all.

_Thank you_ , and well, Daemon has really good manners and Fuuta would feel terrible if he just ignored a request from him. _Please step back a few- there, that is good._

He really wants to feel angry, but when the barrier raises around the house and everything that seems to be weighing down on the inhabitants simply _vanishes_ , he just… can't. He doesn't dare ask Daemon what he did, he doesn't even have the time, since Daemon claps to himself and dissolves into the mist around the house.

"Fuuta?"

Tsuna pokes his head out the window, looking at him with a smile that he hasn't seen in days, and Fuuta grins back. Maybe the barrier is just a lie, a blanket of fabricated feelings that they shouldn't have to need, but if it is helping them all then Fuuta is happy.

His brother is back, as messed up as always, but at least he can smile now.

* * *

**(redacted) interlude**

**divide**

The sea is like a great, great canyon between them, right now. She is stuck in this island, and her brother is somewhere far, far away, past the sea and in another continent.

_Ken, go north. Chikusa, you take the south._

She watches. Like a guardian angel, she makes sure to watch over her brother while he moves around the continents. First the lands of Europe, across high mountains and beautiful beaches, and she feels she is missing something whenever he wakes up and leaves her alone.

_Then, Russia?_

_Russia is fine. We will go through China._

Not that she ever feels complete. He never realizes she watches, never realizes she knows his very step. She is mute and deaf when it comes to her brother, has only vague recollection of what he does every night, but she needs to work to place everything together.

_I'm going to take a trip on a cruise~_

_Mukuro-_ sama _, that's unfair._

_It is_ not _!_

Ah, the sea. The sea looks so far and uninviting, yet she wishes she can cross it one day. One day, maybe in a casket, or as mere ashes, she will rest under the waves and _sleep_. Leaving is against the law, after all.

_Our target is the hell gates at Japan._

_We chase after a myth, then?_

_Exactly._

Hell gates. Mister K will be mad if he hears that name again.

She sighs and places the bouquet of flowers next to the snake. Maybe, if she works hard enough, she will be allowed to leave one day. Now, though, she has a letter to write.

* * *

_Dearest brother;_

_Have a safe trip._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is early because I finished it to this point, and next they go to Mafialand where they meet Skull and Verde (what). This means they go outside Namimori, _gasps_ finally. The next chapter will be all outside the walls of little city fuck up, so hopefully it will be happier (haha no). It is sadly not Australia, but I think I can make Hide interact with a koala— no, actually, no, why would I do that.
> 
> I upped the rating because of reasons. Should I add the Horror genre or just trick people into believing everything is rainbows?
> 
> I keep alternating between Tetsu- _san_ and Tetsuya- _san_ when it comes to Hide. Also, Haru and everyone else, Hide's honorifics are supposed to be important but I keep switching them around. I'm a terrible human being. Enma and Dino were really hard to write, but I hope they made sense? I don't know. I didn't want to introduce Longchamp yet, either, because too many things going on but I wanted Hide to suffer (no, really). Also, motivation to get out of hell? Hide has leveled up in perseverance!
> 
> Sorry about the really choppy way this story reads, my style is just inconsistent at best and… well, I write better when I can be choppy and messy (read: the Memories episode), and ugh what's cohesion anymore I don't know. I just want to make them suffer, this is the reason this whole fic exists sobs in hands. Also any interludes you wanna see? Parents, children, growing up in Hellhole Island?
> 
> Opening line is a reference to Welcome to Nightvale. Really fun to listen, really normal too. Ah, yes, normal towns. Really normal. Maybe read up on closed cities and maybe Colonia Dignidad? I'm sorry I'm Chilean, I grew up with that shitfest going on the background and hearing _all about it_ , so I have always had a bit of a fascination for closed communities with illegal dealings. Ah, yes, torture. Fun stuff (sarcasm).
> 
> Thanks for all the comments (sorry again for the messiness!) and favs and kudos and Good Lords you guys are great. Until next time, if school doesn't kill me.


	10. the beautiful world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **WARNINGS** : Lots of introspection and children being creepy. Slight crossover in _Leonardo_.
> 
> In which everyone goes outside and they have fun, but only offscreen. Plot-relevant things happen.
> 
> Coming up next, Giannini, summer and the finale of peace.

**sky interlude**

**anomaly**

It was a normal day of summer for the Sawadas, and Sawada Nana had asked her boys if they wished to go out for groceries and maybe some ice cream. Sawada Hidetada had complied and Tsunayoshi himself was too young to care. So, all three of them, hand in hand, went out for a short shopping trip.

It went perfectly fine, until Hide saw some of his school friends –one, and two acquaintances- gathering around the park. Hide was never one of many friends, but still, excited, he ran off to them, Nana following laughing, leaving Tsuna to catch up.

Except Tsunayoshi didn't make it to the park.

He found himself attracted to an alley, to a particular antique shop with a man sweeping outside. He looked old, with white hair and opaque _yukata_ that helped him blend with the background, his hands a little wrinkled. Tsuna, being three years old and unknowing of the danger of strangers, walked to the man and to the window, and _aah'_ d and _ooh'_ d at the items displayed.

This amused the man, who chuckled and knelt besides him.

"See something you like, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna knew his own name, and wasn't worried that this man he had never met before knew it as well. He looked up, a toothy grin in his face, and gave a happy "yes!" which made the old man smile at him.

"I see you are younger in this world than in others," said the man, ruffling his hair. "The Vongola won't be able to claim you with your mistake of an older brother around."

Tsuna didn't understand what the man was talking about, but he did recognize he was talking about his brother. " _Nii-chan_ is the bwest!"

"Yes, he is. Or he will be, or rather would be… What a sad fate awaits him, and you, in this particular time." The man hummed and looked at his broom, expression completely neutral. "Well, if the Vongola won't get their hands on you, maybe I can finally claim you for my own- actually, I must, if we wish to follow the path set for us."

Tsuna was picked up and, confused, reached for the ground. He was sat on a bench that appeared out of nowhere (or maybe it was always there?), and the old man kneeled in front of him. "Wha'-"

"The brightest Flame in the multiverse should hold the world in his hands," the man continued, placing one hand above the other on Tsuna's lap, and rounding them around an invisible ball. "I hope you will accept this gift from an old man, as tainted as it is. Not that you understand that, right now."

The hands parted and Tsuna squealed in excitement. In the previously empty hands, now rested a small, round pacifier made of transparent glass. There was an orange, dull _something_ flickering inside, safe and singing for Tsuna, and he reached with his own small hands to it. "P'etty..."

"It is. It is also very important," the magician man said, waving a hand atop the pacifier to reveal a thin chain attached to it. "I trust you will keep it with you."

"'es!"

_Tic_ , went a watch in the distance, marking the moment the world was fated for the end.

* * *

**049**

**The Outside**

_Success_ , is the only thing Reborn can think when the bundle of tickets show up on the mail. He will have to invite Dino out for lunch, or something; Reborn himself _doubts_ he could have pulled something like this out.

Here, in his hands, lay a bunch of tickets to a particular cruise sponsored by the Vongola and her allies. As expected, they couldn't get the ship captain to steer anywhere near Namimori, but they are leaving from a nearby port that can one, be arrived by car in just an hour, and two, is outside of the Hibari's influence. Everything sounds _perfect_ , right now.

Tsunayoshi looks at him like he sprouted another head and, after a few seconds, unlocks the door. It is merely midday, and Reborn should be angry Tsuna is cutting class, but _damn_.

He is _so happy_ right now.

He leaves the tickets on the kitchen's table for later. Now, he has to watch over Tsuna and make sure he doesn't kill himself while making lunch.

A few hours later, after being beaten, cut to pieces and used as food in chess, _shōgi_ and checkers, Reborn gives the tickets to Hide and Mamma with a grin he hasn't had the chance to project for years. This time, he isn't acting.

"What are these?" Mamma opens the envelope with a wary finger, but her eyes light up upon seeing the tickets. She smiles, a wide and open mouthed smile that is _pure happiness_ , and Reborn really needs to thank Dino for this. "Reborn...!"

" _Sho-_ Reborn, this is-!" Hide himself sounds pretty out of his mind right now, and it would be cute if there wasn't a whole backstory of abuse and torture behind it. Really, for people unable to leave their own city under threat of death, they are really showing their feelings. "This is, this just-!"

In complete silence, Tsuna hands Hide his phone. Reborn's grin grows wider when he peeks over his student's shoulder and sees the message.

_You can leave for a few days. Have fun._

_K. Tetsuya_

* * *

The _outside_. Hide has never been _outside_ , not since his mother moved into Namimori with all the hopes of building an easy, crime free life. Not since he was a baby, not even in _dreams_ because he can't imagine what sort of world is outside and past the bridge of Namimori. Oh, he has seen pictures, but somehow those pictures always seemed way too _perfect_ to be considered reality.

Dino laughs next to him, and though Hide has been raised with proper manners, he doesn't look away from the window. He is probably leaving fingerprints all over the dark glass, but he doesn't care at all. Neither does Takeshi, who is holding onto his sword with one hand and almost has half his body out the window.

_The outside_.

They are going to a nearby port city to catch the cruise that is _supposed_ to take them to a resort island. Yes, okay, fine, it is _mafia_ , but it is the outside and he is going there with all his family and most of his friends. He is so happy he could cry.

He feels tears gathering at his eyes. Stupid _feelings_ (not that feelings are bad, but since Vongola Nono sealed away his _hyper intuition_ / _empathy_ , Hide had always felt really disconnected from anything related to himself. Namimori can't be blamed on this).

Takeshi is excited as well! It isn't only Hide! He had finished writing his letter a short while ago, but now he is looking a little lost. And like he might fall off the car, but that can be attributed to the excitement!

Gokudera, who sits next to Dino, is going through his phone and telling them all about the fun stuff to do at Mafialand. One would think that, with a name like _Mafialand_ , it wouldn't be a fun place, but apparently it was some sort of massive resort with tropical beaches and theme parks. First they are getting on a cruise, but Gokudera has already gone through everything they need to know about cruises and sailing the sea.

_The outside._

Lambo, who seems to be the only one unable to understand everyone's excitement, is going on and on about how they should visit the Caribbean, but without Reborn next time, because all Reborn knows what to do is ruin everyone's fun. Hide disagrees, Reborn was the one who convinced Dino- _san_ to do the _impossible_ and get Hibari- _sama_ to let them leave for a few days! It is amazing!

Asides from that, the car they are currently on is a little too high tech for Hide's comfort. He feels really out of his element, in this car with a mini-fridge, so he doesn't pay much attention to his surroundings. The only important thing right now is past the window, and maybe in the other car that is following them where the other half of his family is traveling.

Tsuna… doesn't understand Hide's feelings about leaving, at all. Then again, Tsuna had gone outside a couple of times, mostly to visit Enma or… no, just visit Enma. That was the only thing he ever did when he traveled. Mamma herself was _ecstatic_ , as her only connection to the outside had been her parents for long years, and that was only through letters and rare calls (their father didn't count because he was… not sane enough).

I-pin and Bianchi waited for the day to come with anticipation, and had packed everything needed for a family trip (booze was included until the last minute). They had also teamed up with Mamma to prepare a quick lunch for the car trip, but it had been ruined by Dino- _san_ 's clumsiness. Fuuta himself, though unwilling to leave town at first since it was _Mafialand_ , had given in after countless promises they wouldn't allow _anything_ to happen.

He is excited. His family is excited and happy. Most importantly, he feels _light_ like he has never felt before, like some heavy invisible weight was lifted from his mind the moment he stepped out of the city borders.

He can _think_ and that is all he cares about.

* * *

**050**

**Shiraishi Kaiji**

Though most people don't see it, and another big portion of Namimori and Kokuyo citizens decide to turn a blind eye, the child abandonment cases in the Nami circle are far too many. Definitely higher than any normal town, and similar to some cities overrun by the underworld. Which, Daemon guesses, Namimori is, but since it attempts to be a normal town to the eyes of people, he is a little shocked.

_In the end, everyone comes back here to die_ , the old man had said to him, decades ago. He had been possessing his assistant, that time: a little boy, no older than ten and already tainted by Kokuyo. A child of the Shiraishi. _No matter how hard they try to stay away._

Daemon can agree with that. After his physical death and through the years he fought to keep his sanity, the woman Shokaku had been a little too welcoming of his wandering soul. He had become a citizen of Namimori, though almost insubstantial, yet even after almost two centuries he still found it hard to leave with no intentions of going back.

He had spent long years in Namimori, watching over Giotto's family, over G's machinations, over Asari's failures. He had thought it better if he ignored Alaude and whatever he was planning together with old Shokaku, and turned a blind eye to Knuckle turning the Kokuyo lands into an orphanage; he, however, could never take his eye off Lampo and his wife, even after he realized that his sweet, dear cousin _really_ did marry out of love.

As time went by, the off shot branch of exiled royalty growing in Kokuyo became the Shiraishi-Miura family and Daemon couldn't take his eye off the descendants of his long-dead best friend and even longer-dead cousin. He was also a little picky about who he possessed, and the Shiraishi had somehow managed to inherit the Mist flames his old family worked hard to strengthen. While he worked from the sidelines to keep Giotto's bloodline as _pure_ as possible (in a misguided hope that, one day, a proper heir would be born to it) and the Vongola raising higher and higher in the underworld, he watched. He watched, he talked, he tried hard to get them _away_ from Namimori in fear they would get involved in future affairs.

And then Checkerface had banned him from entering Kokuyo ( _for your own sake, it wouldn't do if your night got absorbed by the earth, right?_ ) and he couldn't do anything anymore. Old woman Shokaku was no longer around to protect him from the _murderer,_ and even Sepira had forsaken Namimori. He had had to leave the Shiraishi (and the Miura, but by that point they had already been pulled into whatever the Hibari was planning) in the hands of the older, strongest Mist user.

Even so, he kept his watch. He observed from afar while watching over both the Sawada and the Vongola, and, when about eleven or twelve years ago he had lost sight of the Shiraishi twins, he had feared the worst.

He isn't heartless. Or rather, he used to not be _as_ heartless, but then Checkerface had come around and burnt the well hidden part of his soul that he kept in the Sawada house, and he had lost a lot, but by the time Shiraishi Kaiji vanished from Namimori he had recovered a little of his being. Not all of it, but he has to thank Tsunayoshi for that, even if the both of them are losing more now than they ever would have had they never met.

At first, he feared Checkerface had done to the youngest Shiraishi twin the same he had done to Tsunayoshi: too cruel, tying their fate to that of the Arcobaleno when they were too young to fight back. Yes, he hadn't met Tsunayoshi until about a whole decade later, but it wasn't the first time Checkerface did something like that. Never with the Sky Arcobaleno, thankfully (there would have been no doubt he would have picked a Sawada), but it wouldn't have been all that farfetched if the old man cursed the _bright, too bright_ Mist child with such a fate.

Yet it wasn't that. The flames flickered on and off for a couple of years, but no matter where Daemon looked he hadn't found his wayward successor. Shiraishi Kaiji had vanished, much to the pain of the eldest twin (Nagi, the sweet darling) and their mother, yet neither the father or Mister K had cared at all.

_In the end, everyone comes back here to die_ , Mister K had said, _even if you never knew you were born here in the first place._

Why would the boy (still a boy, probably fifteen by now) _dare_ approach Namimori after his father had coldly sold him off to the human traffickers? Did he not know? Did he have vague memories of the city, did he even _remember_ he had a sister?

Daemon doesn't know.

_Tsunayoshi_ , he calls from his resting place behind his disciple's eyes, _the blonde man talking to Hidetada-_

_I noticed._ Daemon knows there is a reason why he loves Tsunayoshi so much. _Looks like Nagi-_ san _, is he-_

_The youngest twin, yes._

The both of them look past the illusion covering the man, past the blonde hair and the gaudy jewellery, past the fake Spaniard accent and suntanned skin; Shiraishi Kaiji looks borderline anorexic, pale and scrawny even with the oversized clothes he is wearing. With his hair untied and messy like that, he looks as if he was taken from a trashcan and put into a slightly fancier get up.

Daemon feels disappointed and pained at the same time, and then there is a surge of emotions from Tsunayoshi he can't really decipher under all the _sick_.

_What is it_.

_...isn't he a little… familiar, to you?_ Ah, that's right. Something clicks in the far, far space of Tsunayoshi's mind where Daemon has locked all the knowledge not meant for a ten years old.

_Well, he looks like me, nufufu~_ Though the Shiraishi's hair is darker, messier, and Daemon is definitely prettier-

Sensei _, that's not what I mean._

_I know._

Still have one to find, and the game can begin.

* * *

**051**

**Entrance /**

**Words**

As it is, Reborn didn't need to worry about Hidetada not making it through the entrance test. Though they were brought here by the Cavallone, technically, he still wanted to see how well prepared Hide was without any training in words for the Mafia.

_Ah, Officer, I would like to stay for longer with you to chat about our lives, but you see, I am rather busy. I think I left a device on in the cruise, I should go shut it off. I am sure we can reach an agreement to meet later, don't we?_

His words had been accompanied by incredibly subtle hand motions even as he looked completely defenseless. With Yamamoto leaning on his disguised sword at his side, and Gokudera stationed outside the testing room, the portrayal of a well-guarded boss had been complete. When Hide stood and smiled, offering his hand to the fake officer, the light hit just on the hidden gun's barrel, and even then he simply continued smiling.

_Ah, this? Don't worry, officer, it is just a remote control. I really should go turn off the device at the cruise, but maybe I can do it with this one? Takeshi, am I technology savvy enough to turn it off with this?_

That had broken the fake officer, who had started laughing. He patted Hide's shoulder, claiming he was _meant to be a diplomat, damn it!_ Even the receptionist lady was amused, and she had invited Hide into her _famiglia_ , as she didn't know who he was allied to.

It is amazing, really. Hide, smaller than average Hide, Hide who doesn't like talking to strangers, who is used to follow orders around and keeping to a strict schedule, actually has not only the personality to pull off intimidation, but also enough knowledge of social cues to talk _around_ a trained police detective. Reborn guesses it is natural, since Hide learned to speak from his mother alone (another trained detective, and a really good one, at that), and deals with the likes of Hibari Kyoya and Kusakabe Chiyo on daily basis. His specific development of hyper intuition probably helped, as well.

"I don't even understand what's going on anymore," Hide says, laughing along while Yamamoto grins happily next to him. Gokudera takes that moment to waltz into the room, holding Tsuna's hand, looking grim.

"This looks fun," Tsuna said, still as empty as always, but smiling. "Can I try?"

Which is how they found themselves in this situation, past a one-way mirror and enjoying a cup of coffee. The receptionist lady is explaining Tsuna the rules of the 'game', as there is nothing much to do besides wait. It is a slow season for Mafialand, so there aren't many families to welcome.

" _If you mention your family, brother or mother, then it is game over. You win if you get Daniel, here, to crack._ "

" _What does_ crack _mean?_ "

" _Well, I don't know, maybe if he starts crying or tells you to go? He shouldn't, since he is really strong! Try not to insult him, alright?_ "

" _Okay._ "

" _Remember, this is a simulation. You will be under lots of pressure, are you sure you wish to try?_ "

" _I want to be like Hide-_ nii _!_ "

" _What a good kid. You remember the situation?_ "

" _I'm being questioned because of my Father's drug trafficking business._ "

" _Yes, yes, exactly! Then, good luck!_ "

Daniel, the fake police officer, is preparing the stage again. Just a desk, a chair and a generic looking briefcase on the table (supposedly, evidence). Tsuna himself is kicking his feet on his own chair, humming at each new sentence from the woman, and looking like a child with a present.

Though Hide sitting next to Reborn looks a little anxious, they spoke about this already. Being related to Vongola Decimo puts Tsuna in a vulnerable situation and it is best of he knows what he could be up against in the future. Besides, both of them, and even Dino, want to see how Tsuna (monotone, creepy, uncaring Tsuna) would be under stress.

Mafialand entertainment. The _best_ kind of entertainment.

The simulation starts, and Reborn has only eyes for the ten years old with _no relation to the mafia_ in the other room. They hadn't told that to either the receptionist or the fake officer, but well, let's see if they manage to find out.

He ignores the two new presences who take a seat next to him, and watches.

* * *

**051.b**

**the amusement of Tsunayoshi Spade /**

**the cruelty of Sawada Daemon**

When everything seems to be in place and the woman leaves, Tsuna gives himself a moment to think back. _No mention of family. You lose if you break. You win if the man collapses. You lose if you break._

If he sees the man as an extremely talkative bully, he can do it. He could do it. He has been in _stressful_ situations plenty of times in the past, but this isn't about him. This is about him learning.

_All yours,_ sensei _,_ he whispers into his mind, letting his consciousness melt back into Daemon's resting space. He feels his body grow numb and _dead_ , even from where he is, and the pacifier hiding in his pocket struggles to keep its hold on him.

_Then, let me explain this to you, dear student of mine._ Daemon, in his body, leans back on the chair and lets all their pretenses fall off place. The hardly presented regalness that is now natural of their body comes out as Daemon crosses his fingers over his knees, looking for everyone else like an attentive student, yet for Tsuna it is more like a focused killer. _There are different ways for you to deal with interrogation. What we are going to do now is the passive approach, since we do not actually have weapons, but it is probably the only one you will ever need to learn._

_Because I'm small, weak and the Sky Arcobaleno._

_Exactly. You are staying small, and probably will never look much older than now. However, the fact that you are a Sky and a Mist by association, allows us to do much more than just look cute and harmless in front of individuals like this one, here._ Daemon sounds _actually_ amused, and if Tsuna didn't know him like he does, he would probably be scared. _Besides, he is going to ask about something we know is true, so we can just not lie our way out of it, right?_

Inwardly, Tsuna laughs. He loves Daemon so much.

The acting police officer looks at them through kind eyes ( _fake_ ) and a condescending smile ( _real_ ). There is supposed to be a bunch of background information for his character Tsuna is meant to remember, but honestly, he is _ten_ and doesn't care.

"So, Tsunayoshi Sawada. Let me ask you some questions, and then you can leave, alright?"

" _Alright_ ," Their voice and uncaring stance is probably enough to make the policeman straighten and look at them colder, though he hides it well. A true actor, this one, but Tsu- Daemon has had ages to learn about these kind of people.

It is a massacre.

And it is so _fun_.

"Oi, what the fuck is that kid, _kora_!"

Colonnello's voice is so ridiculous loud it snaps both Reborn and Hide out of their laughter. Takeshi left a few minutes ago, claiming it was _too sad to see a grown man like that_ , and Gokudera is probably still crying over _Tsunayoshi-_ san _knowing such terrible words, how could I let this happen_. Understandable, as Gokudera is the only one who openly curses near Tsuna and the other children.

"That, my dear Colonnello," Reborn starts, motioning with his arm to the one-way glass. "That is a child of Namimori."

Once again, Hide bursts into laughing. He ends up leaning on Dino- _san_ , who still hasn't been able to speak coherent words.

_I believe, esteemed officer, that what you are spouting is utter and complete_ bullshit _,_ Tsuna had said, in his best imitation of Irie Shouichi Hide has _ever seen_ , with his arms crossed over his chest, head leaning arrogantly to a side and _still standing because Tsuna is a tiny baby_. And the officer, the officer was leaning back, eyes wide and stuttering and _looking up startled_ because Tsuna had, quite literally, just shut him up by slamming the briefcase off the desk. _There is no proof to your claims, in this room or anywhere else- in fact, if there is so called evidence, then it is probably fabricated and hiding in this very case you keep so close to yourself, hm?_

Tsuna is _ten years old and he just out bluffed an old man._

The 'interrogation' simulation (more like bullying simulation, both ways) had started pretty slow, with Daniel asking Tsuna for his personal information. It was only when the man brought up the questions about the _fake father_ and the _fake drug trafficking_ , in the subtlest way possible, that Tsuna started being a little shit by evading every single question through obviously childish means ( _ah, is this case for playing? Does it have legos inside? Why is the mirror so bright, why is this chair like this?_ ). Sure, he had acted the distracted child since the start, but that was over the top even for him.

And then the officer got 'serious' and Tsuna just forgot all pretenses of being a normal ten years old. Yes, Tsuna curses, usually in English or Italian, but his repertoire is a little too big for a ten years old. Yes, Tsuna can be extremely scary when he gets bored or distracted of things (so, whenever he is forced into doing a single thing at the same time), but Hide always attributed that to the uncaring way he was about everything.

In conclusion, Tsuna had gotten bored about fifteen minutes into the simulation and had ended it. With a bang.

Through the wall, Hide feels wave after wave of _amusement_ and _extreme joy_ coming from the thing haunting Tsuna, and well, at least one of them is having fun. No, who is he kidding, Hide _loves_ seeing Tsuna like that. It is great because Tsuna is like a well balanced fusion of Mamma (again, another one with a _too big_ vocabulary of swear words and an attitude to match), Irie Shouichi (who was really good at picking up lies out of people and tended to get mad over everything out of his comfort zone) and grandfather (who, well, is a little scary when he gets bored, for all his _zen_ attitude about most things).

He hasn't actually _seen_ Tsuna out of his absolute bored and creepy mode in a while. Last time was... maybe years ago? Definitely before Reborn arrived, around the time the _thing_ attached itself to him, maybe? A little later? In the mornings, when he hasn't had to face the outside world or he hasn't had the time to rebuild his uncaring persona, Tsuna is a rather cute kid, but he used to be _terrifyingly_ cute. As in, literally terrifying,

Eh?

Where did his hellspawn brother go, anyways?

The real hellspawn, the one that zipped around the house doing too many things and breaking other few, the one that giggled into people's annoyance and did nothing to stop it? The one that didn't need to pretend on his feelings about things, because no one in the family cared about his terrible thoughts on school or people or anything else.

Tsuna used to do _annoying_ ly cute things like... bring up all the things Hide did that Tsuna didn't approve of without a care ( _boring martial arts,_ nii-san _! Stop the alarm clock, people can't be alive in the mornings_ or other precious ones like _if you want a wind bell, then it has to be shiny, because if I have to stay in your dull room for more than a couple minutes I will go mad!_ ). Or simply walk off games when Hide, Mamma or Haru were being stupid ( _no, I'm pretty sure you cannot- that's not how you play checkers,_ nii-san _!_ _I'm going to find Shouichi!_ )

He thinks back on time.

Is the uncaring persona really a cover, nowadays?

Well, whatever it is, Hide will continue loving Tsuna the most.

* * *

**052**

**The beauty and the bird**

The third day of their stay in Mafialand, Reborn has had enough of Colonnello's interrogations and constant following them around. Ever since Tsuna's performance at the simulation game, the sniper had decided he _needed_ the information on who those kids were and, unfortunately, so had his temporal companion.

It has been a fun vacation, Colonnello and the _criminology profiler_ stalking him aside. The children were having fun, Bianchi was having fun and even Reborn had found some interesting past times to disguise himself. They had gone to the beach, to the theme park in the island (Hide had never been to a theme park before, as sad as that sounds) and even to the slightly more mafia-esque attractions they had discovered deep under layers and layers of fabricated normalcy. Mamma had won everyone's respect after she had out-shoot a professional sniper and Hide had found his place in barely-legal poker gambling.

Unfortunately, Reborn's fellow Arcobaleno and his companion are relentless. If Reborn didn't know about Colonnello's true allegiance, he would believe they may be investigating the Vongola for something.

By the third day, he had already given up and invited the Lady Superbi and the Rain Arcobaleno to a light evening meal. Which is why he is currently being served fancy pastries with fancy coffee, in a three-seat table with the investigation pair with him.

"This is certainly good, Master Reborn," Madame Superbi is saying, all manners and perfect upbringing as a backdrop to her whole being. She wears a long night dress with no sleeves, disguising her dozen or so knives and small bottles of poison. Her hair is silver, long and straight with no decorations, and she _would_ seem like a really beautiful civilian if it wasn't for her lack of expression and permanently narrowed eyes. "I thank you from the depths of my heart for this invitation."

Madame Superbi is, altogether, nothing like her son. She is quiet and prefers a more indirect way of speaking than that of her extremely blunt child. Where Squalo was bright, quick and emotional, Laurie was like a shade that moved unimportant below society. Where Squalo presented himself as carefully sculpted, though talented, hitman, Madame Superbi had all the air of a natural charmer, her hands untainted and mind unusually sharp.

Still, there are lots of differences. Squalo had a particular intuition for battle and was an unpleasant, micromanaging planner, yet Laurie Superbi is known for her rash decisions concerning family and extremely trained eyes. She is no natural hitman, no trained assassin, but she is an interestingly charismatic escort who probably has material on too many men of the underground society. Her training as a criminology psychologist allowed her to raise high in the ranks of most investigation forces with ties to the underworld, and she worked along with the corrupt side of the police to cover tracks if she was paid enough.

Word said she is also an important informant for the Vindice, but Reborn gives no thought to those rumours. Madame Superbi loathed everything related to the Mafia enough to not get involved so deep, though the Omertá disagreed with her going anywhere.

She is no Vongola, though. In fact, her grudge for the Vongola is well known and respected, and she rarely interacted with anyone under Vongola protection directly. Not her son, not Colonnello (which meant there had to be something else besides just interest in the Sawada children) and, definitely, not the Cavallone. Dino had been in a constant state of fleeing for his life whenever she appeared in his sight. Xanxus had a similar reaction a long time ago, but it faded along with other things as time went by, disappointedly enough.

"I thank you, Madame Superbi, for your presence." Reborn, who was a Vongola in all but name, didn't know her directly. He had heard only words of her from his fellow hitmen (either from being too close to being discovered, or due to their baser interactions with her) and sometimes from Lal Mirch, who loathed her. That didn't mean he knew all that much about her. "However, I must ask you about your interest in my current students, if you will allow it...?"

"Oi! That's no way to ask, _kora_!" Colonnello himself, who was all but napping on the table, suddenly snapped up. "You should tell us if you are coming out of your hole, _kora_!"

Right. He hadn't seen Colonnello, or any other Arcobaleno besides Lal Mirch, in a while. Maybe, since Luce's death?

"Shut up, Colonnello, _kora_." Still, he can't help but tease his younger Arcobaleno. "You haven't even told me what you are doing here, bird brain."

"That is confidential and not Master Reborn's business," commented Madame Superbi even as Colonnello opened his mouth to answer:

"We are chasing a convict, _kora_."

So, a confidential case after a convict. What _famiglia_ messed up so badly as to have both Colonnello  _and_ Madame Superbi on a case like that? Not the Vongola, or they would have gotten Lal Mirch, but not unrelated either, or they wouldn't have been able to get Colonnello on their side. Maybe one of the periferic _famiglia_ , then?

"Oh?" He raises his eyebrow at Colonnello, who is blushing and stuttering about how he shouldn't have said that. Madame Superbi sighs and, after raising her napkin to her mouth, speaks once again.

"We are looking for a remnant of the Estraneo," she said, subtly looking around for eavesdroppers. In that sense, she was definitely nothing like Squalo, who would have threatened anyone out of the building by now. "We feared they might be in Mafialand, but we realized they never disembarked here, so we will leave come the end of the week."

And, that proved Reborn's fear that they were, indeed, spying on them. If they had found a clue and weren't needed in Mafialand anymore, Colonnello would have retreated into the training grounds and Madame Superbi would have gone back to her general information gathering. For them to have attached themselves to Reborn means they are curious, and a curious Colonnello is a dangerous thing.

"Then, your interest in my students come from a personal investment?" Reborn has no doubt that, by paying Madame Superbi enough, she will stay quiet; however, that would leave him in debt and he doesn't want to be in debt to the terrible informant. It wouldn't be as bad as being in Viper's debt, but it was close enough.

"That's not it, _kora_!"

"Not at all."

The answer is puzzling enough. If they aren't interested in them for information purposes, then why...?

"I told Master Colonnello I wished to warn Master Reborn about his students, however it would seem my intentions have been misunderstood." Her _annoying_ way of speaking reminds Reborn a little of Tsunayoshi or Hibari Masato. Quiet, passive yet with an undertone of aggressiveness that told you _pay attention_ , kora _!_ "The two of them are mafia, aren't they?"

"They wouldn't be here if they weren't," Colonnello says, for once looking interested by what Madame Superbi is saying.

"I should warn you, I hope you have a way to teach how to feel to those students of yours," she says, once again hiding her lips behind a hand. No matter what she wishes to say, it is meant to be a secret. "To feel and develop an attachment, really."

Reborn knows this. He knows both Sawada children (all Namimori children, really) are borderline _asocial_ , apathetic about everything and uncaring about most social manners. Psychopathic, even, but they care too much about each other to be really lacking emotion.

"Explain."

"Wait, you mean it is not a façade?" If Colonnello is out of his element enough to _drop_ the annoying _kora_ tic he has, then Reborn guesses it is something not easily perceived. Madame Superbi was trained to read between words, expressions and mannerisms, so she should know. "The fuc _k are_ those kids!?"

Mafia children are taught since earlier in their lives that displaying emotions and interests is a way to give their enemies ammunition, really effective ammunition, too. It isn't rare to see some of them completely cover their true selves behind a mask, but in the end that is all it is: a fabricated lie.

The fact that both Tsuna and Hide (and also Yamamoto, sometimes) are being their _real_ selves when they serenely cut down on people's mental defenses is scary. Namimori children are scary in a way no child has the right to be. If they ever had a real love for something, it has been dutifully beaten out of them by extensive use of Mist flames, subliminal messages and _rule of conquest_. If so, then what is left in them? In all of them?

Hide likes competition and peace. He _thrives_ on being almost at the top and disciplining people into following certain laws. Is that the true Hide, or is that a Hide that the Disciplinary Committee created after years of micromanaging his life? If it isn't the real Hide, then which one is? Is it the one who can't order around a person without apologizing, or the one that smiles when he has the right to beat up people? Is it the one that enjoys following each command he is given, or the one that constantly defies his own grandfather's rules of _not feeding the stray dogs, Hide, damn it!_

Is the real Hide the one that wants to leave Namimori, or the one who can't even think about leaving because it goes _against the law_? The one who can speak a mile per second while tearing up and holding on to whoever was next to him, or the one that is the well-mannered, fine-spoken heir to the second most important family in the city?

Hide makes Reborn uncomfortable, and it isn't even an act. Hide naturally jumps from one pole to the other, from two completely opposite emotion poles: extreme apathy and competitiveness or extreme anxiety and talkativeness. There is no inbetween. He is either an imprinting-trained child soldier or an awkward, slightly rebellious teenager.

Tsuna is another can of worms Reborn feels uncomfortable around. Even now, Tsuna _doesn't_ talk to him about anything related to his own life, not his school life or daily life. Tsuna doesn't let Reborn help with homework, but he will invite Reborn to play games if he is too bored to do anything else. That is all Tsuna does: skip class because he is _bored_ and _scared_ of the outside world and his classmates, and do too many things at the same time because he can't focus on one at the same time (Reborn has seen him playing three different board games with three different people while doing homework).

The thing Reborn noticed about Tsuna is that he has an on-off switch for his emotions. Around friends and family, he will be a... child. Around everyone else, he will be a creepy child. But if both of them are _masks_ , if all of Tsuna is a mask, even the laughing one, the just a little cruel one and the one who constantly yells at his brother because of different reasons... What is left in him?

Everything Reborn has seen about Tsuna is copied from someone else. He will be arrogant and short-tempered, like Irie Shouichi. He will be deductive and passive aggressive, like Sawada Nana. He will be cold and efficient, like Hidetada. He picked up a weird, mafia-esque personality, one that waltzes into a discussion and then walks out completely undamaged, from somewhere Reborn doesn't know. And then he picked Reborn's own personality in the time he had been in the Sawada family, which left them to deal with a terrible child who believed he was always right.

Tsuna is _always_ copying. Like a recording machine that doesn't know when to stop, he had picked up everything he saw, processed it and used it to his advantage. Until he got bored with whoever he was dealing with, when he turned sharp and blunt (and sliced a trained interrogator in half) before going back to being _empty_ and monotone. Reborn would call him the poster boy for psychopathy, but even blank Tsuna has an unusual sense of care and love for the people around him. Also, he can't turn down requests, no matter from who it comes. He will do anything people ask of him if he has the time, surprisingly enough, until he gets bored.

"Even if it was a façade," the lady says, "it isn't really well done, they let some things through that are... a little telling. And even if they didn't let it show, their reaction to certain things says enough about them, I think, Master Reborn-"

_Shit_ , not Madame Superbi. Out of all people who could figure it out first, why did it have to be _children's rights most efficient warrior_ , herself? Reborn hasn't even accepted it, himself, so why-

"These children are being _tortured_ , are they not?"

* * *

**053**

**Training**

Reborn had been absent for a whole day and, when he came back, he did it followed by a blonde baby with a blue pacifier. The baby introduced himself as Colonnello, the Rain, and had taken it on himself to train Decimo in the _beautiful art of cross country battle,_ kora _!_ Both Yamamoto and Hayato himself ended up being signed up for the lessons, which are... a little fun, honestly.

Funny as it is, Hayato doesn't think Decimo needs any more field advantage than he already has. Decimo excels in hiding and maneuvering around unnoticed, so cross country is just another way of telling him he can do _whatever_ he wants. Since it is a forest, he has picked up too many sticks to use for self-defense, and although it is the three of them against the Arcobaleno duo, it is still _unfair_.

Unfair from Decimo, who is used to running around in complete silence, making noise at certain well-planned places for misdirection. Unfair from Yamamoto, who can just sit in plain sight, close his eyes and _wait_. Unfair for Hayato, who is the only one out of his element, as the loud noises of his main weapon are an easy way to be targeted and long range guns are _Colonnello_ 's specialty.

He has set up a few makeshift minefields around his hiding place, but even then, he is terrified. Not for his life, since this is _only_ training, but for the fact he is, still, the weakest of the three of them.

Also, Lambo is here, for some reason.

The child sits besides Hayato, squeezing his bazooka between his arms tightly, in a clear mimic of Hayato's own grip on the sniper rifle he managed to steal from Colonnello's stash (in the other side of the field, with a bunch of other weapons. It was hard to get). It is the time traveling bazooka, too, which is _stupid_ as he is pretty sure Mamma Sawada and Reborn had banned him from using the thing for any reason asides from _life threatening_.

" _Ahodera_ , when will they show up." Lambo is working hard to keep himself quiet, even if he wasn't even invited to the training session. It is good learning, though, as unexpected elements always are a risk, but still!

"When Yamamoto moves, probably," he whispers back. The plan was easy enough, with Decimo moving around to attract the Arcobaleno into position and Yamamoto acting decoy, while Hayato himself was tasked with tagging them out. "And don't call me _Ahodera_."

Funny. They always end up playing some or other twisted version of tag when it comes to their training. Maybe it is because Decimo is used to running from Hibari Kyoya, or because Yamamoto trains on a strict one-touch-you-are-out way, but then Hayato has become used to their usual tag games and could even say he enjoys them. Not used to Lambo just yet, though, even if the boy is always around for some reason.

"They are _cloooose_ ,"

And they are. Hayato can see the faint rustle of leaves moving at fast speed across the forest, and he gets ready to shoot. Aiming atop a tree when there is another one sitting next to you is a little uncomfortable, specially since Lambo is changing the amunnition for his bazooka. He didn't even know he bazooka could be used for something besides time traveling bullets.

"They are close, indeed," says a childish voice above them, and in their panic the two Vongola fall to the ground.

There is a cloud of smoke, and neither Hayato or Lambo are present anymore.

* * *

**053.b**

**Mad Scientist(s)**

"Hmm… Interesting," the green baby is saying when Reborn and Colonnello make it to the explosion grounds. Hide and Takeshi, who were closeby enough, are running in their direction, but Hide feels he will not make it in time.

He never makes it in time, really.

This time, however, he arrives just in time to see a coughing, older Gokudera helping up the usual coat-clad Lambo, who has a small, _awkward_ looking robot in his hands. Or, he assumes it is a robot: small, two long metal bars for arms and no legs, though it seems to be floating just above a rapidly spinning ball. Lambo throws it to the ground when he is steady, and the robot floats off with a purposeful stride.

Gokudera is… taller. His hair is a little longer than the current one, his eyes dark behind his glasses, and he is dressed in a fine-looking black suit with a red tie. Standing straight, he is a little taller than Takeshi, way taller than Hide and he gives the impression that he could look or talk down on you until you died of embarrassment.

"Takeshi," he says, nodding at the swordsman, then turns to give a small bow to Hide. "Decimo. Reborn- _san_. What a nice sight you two make."

That is all he manages to say before Lambo wraps himself around him, looking hysterical. He is speaking in low, rapid Italian-French-English, throwing looks at the green baby every few seconds. Gokudera seems to have a hard time keeping the teenager down, for some reason.

"So this is the ten years bazooka?" The baby, who is kneeling by the still smoking bazooka, is going through all the questions a curious child could ask. "Who made it? Why did that kid have it? I know it brings along the one it hits, but does it work also if one is reaches for the smoke? Were you two in the same space when this happened? Wha-"

"Not even in the same _country_ ," Gokudera scoffs at the same time another one speaks:

"Verde," Colonnello (whose pacifier is glowing bright blue, same as the yellow one on Reborn's, same as the green baby's own) cuts into the baby's ramblings just before Verde can start questioning Lambo. "Were you _stalking_ us?"

"Incorrect." The baby -Verde- dusts his hands off on his own coat (a little muddy, probably from when he dropped from the tree). "I was following the Bovino child."

At this, Lambo bursts into wail, loud and pained, and Hide is reminded that he is just fifteen. Colonnello is quick to take him off Gokudera's arms and pull him away, while Gokudera-

Gokudera has his hand wrapped around the small, green baby's neck and is _furious_.

"Listen up, you little shit," he is saying, completely livid. "I don't care if you are, were, the brightest mind of the generation or _what_ , I will just tell you this. I can ruin your research with a pellet, Verde Leonardo, so do _not make Lambo cry_."

It takes him a second to have a gun pointed at the baby's head, to close to evade and definitely with enough strength to blow up someone's head at that distance. It takes all of Hide and Takeshi's strength to pull him back, and even then he is still reaching for Verde like he wants to maim him for the worst offence of the world.

" _Maa, maa_ , calm down Gokudera," Takeshi laughs, using his arm to lower the weapon _still_ pointed at Verde. "Just because you are older doesn't mean you can bully the kids-"

"Do you even know how _old_ that guy is!?"

Hide ignores the ongoing discussion in favor of glaring at the baby. Even after ten years, it would seem Gokudera and Takeshi don't really get along and that makes him… sad. He wouldn't have found out if it wasn't for Lambo's bazooka, who was probably brought along because he sensed someone was following him. In conclusion, this is all Verde's fault.

Verde, who is currently sitting on the ground besides Reborn, the ten years bazooka on his lap and looking like he is touching his favorite musician guitar, or something. He was dropped to the ground not a minute ago, and he is already fussing over the bazooka. Creepy.

"- _you kidding? The Bovino have_ great _technology hidden-_ "

" _I thought you considered them inferior?_ "

" _In most things, but not in this, they were the leading experts in time travel theory and flame weaponry-_ "

Hide ignores it and decides to focus back on Gokudera. He notices Colonnello on Lambo's shoulder a few meters away, and they are both talking in low, hushed tones as Lambo scrambles to try and catch his robot. Not important. Gokudera.

"You grew tall, Gokudera- _san_ ," he compliments, reaching with his arm to compare their heights. That is _so_ unfair, the Sawada family's height curse, and he is all about wearing platforms. He will do it. Later. "Tell me Takeshi is taller."

"He is," Gokudera nods, before shaking his head suddenly and taking Hide's shoulders. "That's not- Decimo, are you safe? You haven't met that jerk yet, have you? Where is Tsunayoshi?"

"We have met _lots_ of jerks~," Takeshi sing-songs, giving the babies on the ground a discreet glare. "You will have to specify!"

"Ugh, the Mist jerk, that- that stupid idiotic possessive _pineapple-_ "

Gokudera continues insulting the pineapple. For some reason. He is going on a tangent about tropical fruits and their unworthiness in the nutritive scale when, after a look from Hide, Takeshi reaches to cover his mouth with his hands.

" _Hmph!?_ "

"Quiet Gokudera looks prettier," Takeshi says and Hide laughs at Gokudera's blushing face. He manages to throw Takeshi off- "Woah, you got quick- hey-," and go on an even longer tirade about stupid baseball and stepford smiles and blood covered laughing _freaks_ when Lambo and Colonnello come back.

"What the hell, _kora_!"

"V-Verde- _san_ , if you do that, you may break the timeline-"

Hide turns to see Verde and Reborn sitting innocently and baby-like inside a circle of dismantled Bazooka.

_What_.

"This is a really advanced tool, are you sure it is an inheritance? How did you manage to solidify and compress the time paradox? You do keep producing the charge, don't you?"

Lambo, who was making a high pitched noise in the back of his throat and waving his hands around at the sight of his bazooka dismantled, snapped back to attention in half a second. Much unlike Gokudera, his answers were short and to the point, but stuttering all through it.

"Ah- yes, I- I made it, then future me fixed it and sent it back about half a century- That is a secret- please stop…!"

Wait, Lambo did _what_?

Gokudera doesn't seem surprised, but instead is furious. He is reaching back for his gun, stopped only by Colonnello's and Takeshi's hard efforts to hold him back. He mutters something that sounds like _irresponsible parents, all of them_ , to which Hide just gives him a confused look.

_Lambo did what?_

"Fu… You are an interesting child, Lambo Bovino," Verde says, still not looking up from where he is _breaking apart future Lambo's masterpiece_.

Lambo is still panicking, sort of, kneeling before Verde and trying to keep the pieces of his bazooka in their relative places to their final position (which Verde is… not doing. Terrible), with Reborn snickering next to him and giving suggestions to the other scientist. The tiny spinning robot is hovering by Verde's head and _offering him tools_ and it just, it looks a little like a lab assistant? Maybe?

"Why did you even _make_ such a thing?" He asks, unthinking, and is pained to see Lambo still. His thoughts come so _strong_ , a complete mess of _pride despair purpose suffering_ , crossed up with Gokudera's own _too strong_ feelings of _shame_. "The tiny thing, I mean, not… the bazooka, I think I understand why you would make that?"

Except he doesn't, at all. So did Lambo, in the future, create a bazooka to send back, so it was given to Lambo, in the past, who would constantly bring Lambo from the future back, inspiring himself into researching time travel so he could make a bazooka and send it back and- What? How does that even work?

What happened if Lambo died or… decided to not research things? What if he just wanted to be a normal boy because of his mishaps in time? Then said mishaps wouldn't happen and he would have no reason to- _agh_ , too much to think about.

Colonnello and Takeshi seem to be… thinking the same, at the same time, and all three of them groan at the impossibility of it all. Gokudera just looks… bitter, and Reborn seems to be thoughtful.

"But then, then that means we are in-," Verde's eyes are wide, bright and _excited_ , and when Lambo nods he just… grins. With his extremely bored expression, Verde grins. " _Interesting_ … This merits research! I'm keeping this-"

"No, you can't!

**POOF!**

Lambo, the one from this time, has a bag of gummy bears in his hands and is covered with an oversized lab coat. He blinks up at everyone, confused, before shoving a handful of bears into his mouth.

Hide has a second to react before Gokudera is all over him, hands millimeters from his shoulders and looking for something. He has this _completely desperate_ expression in his face and his eyes seem like voids in their pain- there is so much _pain and confusion_ Hide feels he will drown if he touches someone right now.

"Decimo, are you alright? Are you safe? Where is-"

And in that moment, all three pacifiers belonging to each baby _glow_.

* * *

**lightning interlude**

**Leonardo**

He poofs back to his time just in time for his tears to spill.

_What an interesting child_ , Verde had said. Verde had called him interesting, _him_ , who didn't matter at all to the scientist. No matter, he was just _an interesting child_ , not a troublesome brat, not a lazy assistant, not _Lambo_.

Not even when he had finished his first, bare bones paper on time travel had he been called _interesting_.

He falls to his knees and presses the heels of his hands to his eyes. _Verde_ had called him interesting. _Verde_ had called him a child. _Verde_ , who hadn't cared if he was a child, _Verde_ who insulted his behavior as much as he praised his work.

_Verde_.

"Professor?"

There is another one kneeling before him, all white coat and messy dark hair. Small hands, small eyes, barely disguised age; a young, too young member of the Vongola research department, focused in robots. Only sixteen, with a dark, dark past, a dead family and a comatose brother.

Lambo himself isn't all that different, right? A dead family, a comatose brother. Or rather, a dead guardian, a comatose brother and half a missing family.

"Professor Leona-"

"Not professor," he corrects, immediately. They were in the same classes at university, the same level. Yet, because of Lambo's connections and knowledge, he had been shoved into a teaching role he didn't want nor need, which lead to most of his classmates calling him _professor_. "I am but a student."

"A teaching student, then," Hiro says, laughing. The boy is Lambo's hand picked partner when it comes to his current research, and honestly, he knows way more about robots than Lambo would ever do. Hiro's life was all about robots. "Are you alright, Lambo?"

"I went to the past, I'm not alright," he replies honestly. All he wants to do is curl up on his chair and cry, maybe talk to his sister (who is missing), maybe talk to his brother (who is comatose), maybe talk to his mother (who is missing). Maybe hug the- where did it go? "I met Hide and- and- I lost Verde's multi-tool...!"

He left it behind! He can't feel the constant buzzing around any longer, he can't feel the familiar stored Sun flames keeping it alive, he _lost it_!

"Oh." Hiro is the only one who probably understands, asides from the Vongola Guardians (who are... scattered through the land, looking for clues). Hiro, who has a comatose brother, a dead family and hands tainted in blood because of a mistake. Hiro never lost his brother's research, though! "Want me to leave?"

He shakes his head. Though he does want to be alone (his multi-tool!), they are working on a time limit. They probably don't have a year until the Millefiore takes action, and reverse engineering the Acid Rain's Mosca is more important than Lambo crying over _Verde and Verde's custom made tool that had been Lambo's high school graduation present._

He wants to cry. He is _already_ crying.

"The Mosca-"

"Working on it. You should take a break."

Though it takes him a few minutes, he nods and Hiro goes back to his work. The sound of rapid typing lulls him into a half-asleep state that is the only peace he can get nowadays. The sound of Hiro's voice speaking to the AI that runs their system only serves to keep him in an state of _this is normal, nothing is getting worse._ Though there is no constant buzzing near him, no timed scans on the state of his schedule and no loud alarms to warn him when he is late, he knows this is _normal_.

Half an hour later, he gets up from the ground and to his desk. It is as messy as always and, well, nothing is ever _not_ messy in Lambo and Hiro's research lab. There is a half-made multi-tool that he turns on with a button (the prototype). The lightning pillars are lit up happily, crackling with rays of green and yellow, without anything to prove they were ever broken, so he has to smile.

The Millefiore had ruined them, but they have been repairing the damage. Maybe, someday their repairs will be faster than anything the Millefiore does.

Without a care for the pain (the Lightning flames and real lightning just brush his skin with a tingly touch), he reaches into the middle pillar and pulls out a faded, cracked green pacifier. The flames fight to keep the sphere inside, but they give in when Lambo sends in his own Lightning flames as a replacement. The incomplete multi-tool reaches for it and keeps it close to itself, recharging, even as Lambo brings the both of them closer to himself.

"Hello, Verde- _san_."

Hiro rolls his eyes at him from his chair, and Lambo curls up around the small robot to speak with his long lost sponsor, mentor and guardian.

* * *

**054**

**Skull**

He looks down at his glowing pacifier with well disguised interest. It is a dull purple, though at times it changes into an earthy red when it feels like being particularly annoying, same as when it spawns cracks that give it some _vitro_ feeling that feels all wrong. It shouldn't be spawning cracks, to start with, nor should it be _glowing_.

Pacifiers of the Tri-ni-Sette only glow spontaneously when they feel equivalent or stronger flames near themselves. So far, Skull has never seen _his_ pacifier glow out of nowhere, not even with Luce or... those guys. Oh, the glow could be forced, that was for sure, though one needed impossible control of Flames to manipulate the dormant Flames inside the pacifier, which he is, thankfully, quite adept at.

Had Kawahira picked another Arcobaleno for of his set? He thinks back, was there any death notice sometime in the past? Besides Viper being missing, but they are quite alive if Skull has any word on it, and Luce passing away... No, it would have to be Sky from the particular feeling he is getting from the reaction, and Aria was still in sad possession of her pacifier. Bermuda, maybe? No, his reaction felt more like a faded Sky covered in _hate_ and it was... not good.

His Arcobaleno set was an interesting one, too, to find in this island. He had seen them already, three of them all gathered like cute babies in the middle of the forest, though he hadn't thought much about it. He had meant to approach them, but hadn't wanted to bring attention to himself. If whoever was close was so strong as to make _his_ pacifier glow, then it was rare Skull hadn't met them yet.

In curiousness, he turns around.

He is small, a child of probably six, maybe seven. No Arcobaleno, then, but in possession of a pacifier -probably marked for the future, which happened... not often, but had happened a few times in the past that he was quite regretful of. The pacifier, glowing a washed out orange, sits in the middle of his chest like it was meant to belong there, unlike his clothes that seem more fit for a warm winter day that a tropical beach.

" _Grim-_ san," the boy greets, and it takes a second for Skull to place the distinct feeling of _something_ else coming from him. " _It has been a while_."

"Daemon Spade." He nods his acknowledgement and, after motioning Oodako to keep his distance, approaches the boy. "What a curious host."

" _This one is no host_ ," the boy says, and Skull feels Daemon's consciousness give away to something lighter, yet equally tainted. "It is nice to meet you, Grim- _san_. I have heard a lot about you."

He whistles in surprise. Daemon Spade was a known element to him, but it is the first time he has seen the Flame remnant take possession of a willing body. Whoever this child is, he has to be strong enough to tolerate the presence that is Spade in his daily life, which means he is _definitely_ strong enough to be the wielder of the Sky flames his pacifier is reacting to.

Stronger than Aria, that much is easy to see. Aria hadn't yet recovered from the strain of taking over the Sky pacifier, and it has been years. She was broken beyond repair, still is, and definitely won't be a good mother anyways. Poor Yuni would have to deal with her half-there mother for all her life, until she took over the Curse herself-

Except she wouldn't. This child was the definite heir of the Sky Curse. What was Kawahira _thinking_?

"You know me, but I know you not?" He tilts his head to the side, plopping down in front of the boy and motioning him to do the same. "I could call you Spade, but I don't think you would like that."

"No, that's Daemon," the boy shakes his head. His voice is quiet and dull and it makes Skull feel like he is meeting a younger Bermuda all over again. "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi."

...what the hell was Kawahira _planning_?

"As in, Sawada Iemitsu's-"

"I am in no way related to that." The boy's -Tsunayoshi's- eyes narrow and his pacifier grows _whiter_. Not good, not good. He makes a motion with his arm and Skull feels Spade click back in place with practiced ease. " _Please do not mention that pathetic man before us._ "

"Alright, then. I will just call him Tsunayoshi, if that's okay?"

" _That sounds fine._ "

And just like that, the topic is dropped.

* * *

**054.b**

**The Grim**

It has been a while since he met the Grim in his real body, really. Daemon has followed the man's path through the ages, obsessively so, and he had gone through so many names and appearances it was a wonder he still remembered his true self.

The Grim. The oldest Arcobaleno in existence, one of the oldest Humans in existence. Younger than Kawahira, but still old enough to remember most business related to the Tri-ni-Sette and this world's make up. Hopefully, he would have a way to stop Tsunayoshi from not aging, as Skull de Mort himself did _not_ age even when he stopped holding on to his flames. He had to have a way-

Daemon rummages into the corner of Tsunayoshi's mind where the knowledge is stored, and comes back with a well-hidden piece of future information. Somehow, _somehow_. It will happen, so there has to be a way to replicate it now, right?

There is only one path in this world. Predestination is a bitch.

"So, Spade, as much as I am meant to stay Neutral before Checkerface and all, Tsunayoshi is surprisingly small? How _old_ is he?"

" _That is what I mean to ask you. Tsunayoshi is ten._ " The Grim jerks back, looking pained, and when he opens his mouth to ask something else Daemon predicts it. " _He received it seven years ago, approximately._ "

"Hooooooly shit, _Earth help me_ , okay, okay, then-" The baby -not a baby, probably a couple thousands years old- coughs and fixes his position from where he had been sprawled on the ground. Amazing how such an old being can act. "He isn't aging normally already, is he?"

" _No, he is not_." And this here is the only reason Daemon cares to speak with the Grim. He _promised_ that he would protect Tsunayoshi, after his mind had been almost healed by association. Oh, it is still a mess and needed lots of constant check ups and re-balancing, but if he can stop even just one bad thing from happening, he will. " _He will never look his age, but I was wondering if you could help us_."

It _could_ be replicated, right? It wasn't just Enma, right?

"Well, you are an illusionist. I guess you are using it to cover it up?"

" _In front of his family, yes._ " And he had, ever since the start. The illusion growth has to be kept at a relatively low pace until Tsunayoshi enters puberty, though, or it would be too obvious. As it is, Tsunayoshi's size and physical appearance would become a danger in the future. " _He is a Sawada, so..._ "

"Hm," the Grim hums to himself, crossing his impossibly chubby arms around his chest. "I understand the danger, but usually inner propagation is the only way to fix it- and I don't think you want me to meddle with your... companion?"

No, Daemon feels the reaction from the darker part of his mind -and Tsunayoshi, immediately. They recoil and pull away, hiding all their Flames into a tight closed space impossible to access. He feels the lack of Flames like a lack of everything else, a lack of Tsunayoshi by his side, and struggles to keep a hold of himself.

" _Definitely not._ "

"Guessed so," says Skull, looking at the fluctuating glow of Tsunayoshi's pacifier with worried eyes. Understandable, if he can feel the sudden shift of their Flame strength, which he was always able to. "I will see if something can be done, but it may take some time and research."

" _Much appreciated_."

"Don't thank me yet, I'm not sure if it's possible. I'll do what I can."

* * *

**055**

**return**

It is their final day outside, and Takeshi finds himself in a cruise for the second time in the past week. Surprisingly enough, nothing really bad had happened in the outside world, going against everything his father and teachers had been telling him since he was old enough to care.

They had met Verde, Colonnello and Skull (though the last one had been just by sight when the baby had dropped by to kidnap the others), three of the group of babies that Reborn was friends or colleagues with. Verde had stolen Lambo's bazooka, much to the boy's despair, and Colonnello had taken to showing Gokudera and Hide the proper way for long-range sniping through the last day.

Takeshi himself had wasted many of the days in Mafialand being the laziest he ever allowed himself to. He kept his running schedule in the mornings, but asides from that he didn't do much. He went to the beach (quite unlike Namimori Port's own) and dragged Hide to a haunted house, but asides from that and the day they had dropped everything to train in cross country warfare, he had mostly just... rested.

He felt the best he had felt in ages.

Now they are on the cruise, after bidding their farewells to the mysterious babies, and the soft and steady rocking of the ship keeps trying to lull him to sleep and out of his comfort zone. He can't sleep, though, not when Hide is running left and right like a headless chicken through the ship's leisure grounds. Also, he feels _sick_.

"You may want to calm down," he groans from his spot on a couch when Hide goes past, once again, after beating Reborn in a quick card game match. He grabs his one and only best friend by the arm and pulls him to the couch, forcing him to sit down next to him. "How can you have so much energy?"

"I _love_ ships, Takeshi? What the heck, I really love ships," Hide says, excited and out of breath, and Takeshi mumbles and drops his weight on his friend's legs. Hide doesn't complain and brushes his fingers through his hair- that feels _nice_. "When I'm older, I'm getting a ship and we are traveling the seven seas, okay?"

"No, no, that's-" _a terrible idea_ , he wants to say. It is his second time in a ship, and the first time he was so excited about going _out_ he couldn't sit down, but the rocking motion is seriously making him feel wrong. Too tired, sick, like he is doing something he shouldn't be doing at all. "Let's stay with... cars..."

"Ah, Takeshi, could it be you are _motion sick_?" Hide says with well-disguised amusement, but Takeshi has known Hide for far too long to not be able to notice it. He rolls around and glares up at his best friend, who simply laughs. "Yeah, I get you, Tsuna is the same. He is stuck in his room and won't look at the sea with me, it is a little-"

No way. Hide seems to realize it as well and his smile twists into a sick grimace. Takeshi flinches as the hand in his hair squeezes, and struggles to sit up.

"You don't think-"

"...it really wouldn't be the first time they do something like that," he says and leans back on Hide's shoulder with a sigh. Yet another thing Namimori messed with. "I wish they would stop."

They stay silent for a while, Hide's energy vanishing with a few words and a strong realization, and Takeshi gets comfortable by snuggling closer to him. Who cares if there are too many people? They are Namimori children and they can do whatever they want -except leave the town and notice certain obvious things, that is.

He doesn't understand how did he not _notice_ how fucked up Namimori was. He suspects it is because of some weird and really strong way of subliminal messaging that has been around since forever ago. Not only did he forget his mother was alive (he mailed the letter, now), but he also forgot... too many other things he can't remember, but he feels missing.

Well, now they know. They didn't want to know, though, but if Hide is becoming a mafia boss (imagine that, Hide, a _mafia_ boss!) then they need to be aware of everything that is going on around them.

"Move, freak," that is Gokudera, holding a chicken for some reason, so Takeshi moves over so he can sit besides them. "We will be arriving after tonight, according to the captain. I hope you are ready."

"...not really-"

"But we can deal with it."

As Takeshi raises his hand to high-five Hide weakly, he promises himself once again he will never leave Hide alone.

It is time to shake off a city's influence.

* * *

**(redacted) interlude**

**the first one**

He settles down on a dusty couch, closes his eyes and _dreams_.

" _M.M., don't you dare-"_

" _Aw, c'mon, Ken-_ chan _! It will be fun!"_

_**Mukuro, I really don't like these twins you picked up. When I get there I will dump them on you and you can kill them.** _

" _Chikusa is certainly a cute child-"_

" _Get that bird away from me you perverted freak."_

_**Fufu, what a cute child I have found… I always say all people come back to die.** _

" _-two point seven, two point eight, two point nine-"_

" _Fran, darling, what are you doing?"_

_**Welcome home, brother.** _

He wakes up the following day with a sense of familiarity and home he hasn't felt in a while, with his faded emotions trying to surge back from their resting place and making him feel even more disconnected than usual.

He rolls around on the couch of Kokuyoland and looks to the floor. Broken, dirty, definitely nothing like the small cabin they had been staying at before they were captured; no sense of safety, or any barriers already raised.

Lancia would have a heart attack if he saw him now. _I know you are suicidal, but no defenses in new grounds, how crazy are you? Think about Chikusa!_ Except, Chikusa isn't here, so there is no real need to set up guards for him.

Still.

He yawns and sits up. So Lancia will not have a heart attack, he better make this place habitable in the next couple months. Make sure there is a mice nest around for Ken and enough spots for Chikusa to hide, things like that. Fix this couch. The floor. School?

How do civilians live?

He misses the snake slithering off the room, so busy he is in being confused about daily life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter of Daily Life to go and we can get this ball rolling! Yay, Mukuro, welcome!
> 
> Kaiji, because I'm not gonna explain it. Anyways, Mukuro is a really good boss, he goes information gathering on a cruise while his team is off in who knows where probably dying. Could learn a little from Xanxus, tho Squalo didn't like having to get into Namimori with all these people talking about eating sharks. For some reason, Mukuro and Chrome always end up as siblings in my stories In my single father AU, she is like five years older, but here they are twins... and she's still older.
> 
> The insight episode (the beauty and the bird) was a little hard to write. I had to show how Reborn views Hide's anxiety about his world and how he sees Tsuna and Daemon constantly playing around with people. A psychologist woukd pick up something wrong from the way Hide and Tsuna act and call them damaged, probably abused, but they aren't really psychopaths. They are just... really fucked up. Specially Tsuna… haha… Ah yes, Madame Superbi, one of the dozen OCs that are just background characters but doing relevant things.
> 
> Hiro, Lambo's partner in the future who is reverse engineering the Mosca, is Hamada Hiro, from BH6. I was gonna make an OC or use Giannini (nop), but well, this is easier. Also I have a BH6 half written fic in which Hiro is recruited into the mafia, so it was just... augh. Inventor prodigy meet scientist/assassin prodigy, have fun. Spoilers they are both in university and do mafia things in the background. Also, Lambo Leonardo is such a funny name. Like Magdalene Mordree. Why is Verde's pacifier not stone? Aaahahahaha spoilers . Same as why did Lambo make a time machine? Well, that's not really a spoiler, is it, considering…
> 
> No Gokudera future interlude, though maybe soon. What are your thoughts on YamaGoku?


	11. summer of peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer means festivals. Namimori loves her festivals! Specially the ones where Gods burn.

**056**

**Welcome home**

Tsuna knew that their comeback would be equally cursed and celebrated by neighbours and classmates alike. They expected it, but it wasn't meant to be so bad.

Takeda Keiko, the neighbour, had been waiting for them with morning cake when they arrived their doorstep (Dino included! He had joined them in breakfast), along with Yamamoto Tsuyoshi who started crying when he saw his son. Hibari Kyoya had appeared not much later to kidnap Hide away for business, but he was returned soon enough. Through the day, Kyoko and Hana had shown up (they ended up staying for lunch), and later Haru appeared to model her new design. Doctor Shamal had shown up around then, which made Hide and his friends flee, and Tsuna had followed along because he didn't feel like being near... anyone, really.

Fuuta was getting along splendidly with Lambo and I-pin. He doesn't want to snatch that from him.

_Another_. Daemon has been commenting on the passing people's half disgusted, half scared faces since they left. There have been a few, because everyone in Namimori hates them, and Tsuna honestly hates them back. It is okay, it is okay, people have never treated any of them fine. _At this rate we will have to exorcise the bad luck out of Hidetada, once again_.

_Quick, bring the cats and gold, we are on this case!_

Tsuna feels like Hide will suddenly grow fur and wear a red cap, though; for all the bad humor the unknown people around him are projecting, he is all smiles and _energy_ , and even humming. He is also on his tenth mug of sugared water this day (that can't be called coffee anymore), which Tsuna can tell because the thermos he is carrying around has just been refilled. Whichever it is, he will crash come a few hours and either Tsuna or Takeshi will have to drag him home.

_Troublesome_. But speaking of Takeshi, he is hanging back from the front line that is a pleasant, flower-sprouting Hide, the scarily glaring Hayato and the quickly blabbering Haru. She is going on and on about what happened in the week they were gone (explosion here, some disappearance there, also I met the craziest person the other day who burst into pretty flames) while walking and motioning widely, with Hide replying to her prompts at proper cues (oh, no I didn't notice, that sounds fun, did you know your Father is a murderer in disguise).

Tsuna may or not be editing their conversation in his head, but honestly he doesn't care about town gossip.

Hayato is quiet and looks like every line the good angry friend he _could_ be if he wasn't so dead bent in being a hitman and a mafia boss's second in command. Since his... trip to the future? That, whatever had happened when they had disappeared and met the green baby, Hayato had been... angry. Snappy and overprotective over Hide, angry at Takeshi, Tsuna _and Hide_ , and... also surprisingly close to... birds. Chickens and chicks, mostly.

More to the point, whenever he had walked past a window back at the ship and at home, a bird crashed against the window. Walk, _crash_. Walk, _crash_. When even straight-scientific-method Lambo and _Mamma_ , who didn't know the meaning of superstition, started getting anxious there were already two birds dead outside their house and a couple more injured. I-pin and Bianchi had taken them in for healing, but the damage was _done_.

Now, Tsuna knows three people with a relation to birds, and one of them he hasn't even met, one is Hibari Kyoya who doesn't care about Hayato, and the last one is a God, guardian deity, supernatural something. Votes are pretty telling: Daemon _and_ Fuuta are betting on it being a divine warning, but Tsuna needs more proof before he can go complaining and giving a corpse offering to the Kokuyo guardian...

Then, there is Takeshi. Takeshi is _creepy_ accepting in a daily basis, but it is when he is _not_ daily accepting than things turn... weird. Currently, he walks besides Tsuna, looking as if he doesn't want to be here... or anywhere else, really. The others have already left them behind, as Tsuna walks _slow_ (illusionary or not, he is still small and has short legs), and Takeshi has to stop every few steps to wait for him.

_He has a question, probably._ Daemon, ever helpful, whispers in the back of his mind. Thanks, Daemon, you are _really_ helpful! It isn't like Tsuna hasn't noticed that Takeshi waited precisely for the others to turn the corner to stop. _Want me to-_

A wooden blade hits the wall next to Tsuna's head. Not _that_ sword, but _a_ sword, definitely dangerous and Tsuna _still doesn't like fighting_. He raises his hand to the wood, trying to get it away, but recoils when he feels the _Flame_ dig into his hand.

_External Rain, unconscious,_ Daemon drones on, turning his panic into an impromptu lesson on Rain flames. Tsuna wishes he could turn off his mind like that, but his tutor has already pulled back and wrapped _everything_ meant to not be known under tight locks- except their real feelings, that is. The panic stays. _If you stay here any longer you will pass out, move, now_.

Yes, well, how is he supposed to move when Takeshi has his sword in one side and his arm in the other? He is so small he has to look way up to even _see_ Takeshi, and his neck hurts so much. _What the Sky what the eight Hells-_

_Nine-_

_No we are not having this discussion now!_

"Tsuna," Takeshi says, with a small smile that sends a frozen _cold_ shiver down Tsuna's spine and brings both him and Daemon out of their mind conversation. He feels a distinct blade shaping under his fingers behind his back and shoves Daemon away. "By any chance, are you the one messing with Hide's head?"

Apparently, his frozen silence is not to Takeshi's liking, because he narrows his eyes and twists the wooden blade closer to Tsuna's neck. Okay, okay- is it _alright_ to answer?

"Take- _nii_ , I don't-"

"Don't play with me, Tsunayoshi," and damn, he sounds so angry and _bitter and betrayed_ , Takeshi looks like he is going to cry. Tsuna feels the same, because Takeshi has _never called_ him by his whole name. _"All_ of Hide's missing memories are somehow related to you. _All of them_. You can't tell me it is just a coincidence."

Well, no, it _isn't_ , but it isn't Tsuna's fault either! The Mist just cleans anything remotely related to the inner and Flame workings of Namimori and Tsuna is too tied to it, okay! But how do you say that? _I am an extremely important supernatural being?_ He is not important, to start with.

He is _ten_. His mind may be a little older because of things that happen and Daemon is ancient, but at the end of the day, he is still _ten_. How do people even _think_ he could be involved with the stupidity that is Namimori's brainwashing?

"Now that I think about it..." Something must have shown in Tsuna's eyes, because Takeshi brightens as if the mysteries of the world have been solved for him. "It isn't _you_ , but you know, don't you? Who, why, how."

He feels his eyes widen and the scythe in his back pulse in _danger._ He can't tell, but what should he do if he can-

"No, it is- I'm not-," he stutters, tearing up, and he can see Takeshi go back to the gentle older brother figure he has been since forever ago. That is, until he is kicked away, _kicked away_ by... Kikyo?

The kick doesn't hit, though. Takeshi leaps back in time, pulling his sword with him and leaving Tsuna gratefully alone to collapse to the ground. He does so, ignoring the sounds of Kikyo throwing kick after kick to Takeshi, who blocks it with his ridiculously strong wooden sword. How is it not breaking? Is it secretly metal?

"K-Kikyo- _san?_!" Haru runs into the scene waving her arms, followed by Hide who takes a hold of Takeshi and doesn't let go. Kikyo is pulled back, rather weakly, by Haru herself. "I know you don't like men, but that's no reason to beat up Yamamoto- _san_ -"

"He _started_ it, Miura! Let me go!"

"He is right, Miura- _san_ ," comes Shouichi's extremely angry, yet still nervous somehow, voice from down the alleyway- uh, when did they _get_ to an alley? Shouichi is holding on to his side and leaning on the wall, looking pained, but well. That's Shouichi. "Yamamoto Takeshi was being-"

"I don't _care_ , Irie- _san_! Beating people up in daylight, honestly, have you no shame?"

"So is it okay to do it at night- no, wait, wait, what are you _doing_ here!?" Hide, who has already let go of Takeshi, points at Kikyo and then at Shouichi, and then again. "You live in the other corner of the townand _you..._!"

Tsuna takes the moment to skip over to Shouichi, sending a glance to Takeshi. He has lost the crazed look in his eyes, but he is still _smiling_ like he would rather kill everyone here than be civil. Scary, yes, that is pretty scary. He takes Shouichi's hand and tugs at it lightly.

"I have all the right to come to Namimori, Sawada Hidetada," drawls Kikyo, snatching his arm away from Haru. He looks calm, but the sense of _anger_ around him hasn't faded at all. "Midori has no entertainment facilities, as you well know."

Now that he thinks about it, Kikyo _and_ Shouichi being together in a casual stroll... isn't good news. Has something happened? Something to Byakuran? To Enma? Daisy or the others?

"I thought high schoolers were busy at this time of the year," says Hayato from Hide's side- wait, has Hayato met Kikyo? Has Hayato gone to Kokuyo? Tsuna feels so lost, like the dealings of the town are slipping away from his hands.

"Doesn't matter," and like that, Kikyo turns around with a hasty bow to Hide. "We will be taking Tsunayoshi with us."

"Welcome back, Hidetada, Yamamoto, Gokudera," says Shouichi (still sounding like he would rather be elsewhere), as Kikyo said, starts pulling him away from his brother and his friends. "See you around, hopefully not."

And that is that.

* * *

**057**

**Giannini di Vongola**

Hide comes back from his last day of classes before summer break to find Gokudera and Reborn sitting in his room, a pile of weaponry piled on one side. They seem to be sorting through it, which is... strange. It is the first time Hide has noticed _how many_ weapons are hidden in his room or his tutor's and friend's selves, really.

He closes the door behind him after waving hello to Fuuta. Whatever it is, it better be good.

"Good afternoon," he greets, taking his retractable baton from its hiding place in his belt. His staff is downstairs, so the baton is the only weapon currently in his possession; he drops it on the bed and sits besides it. "What's the event?"

"Dino has brought over a guest from the Vongola," Reborn says with no hesitance. He takes a gun, turns it over, and drops it in a pile under the desk. "He will come this evening. His name is Giannini and he is one of our technicians."

Huh. So that would explain why there is scattered weaponry in his room- nope, it doesn't. He thought the whole mafia business was going to stick as diplomacy and etiquette lessons for the following weeks, but maybe that's not how things are going to be now. And just when he is _finally_ getting Takeshi to stop carrying his sword everywhere, too.

He sighs and lays on his bed, reaching to pull Gokudera's hair out of its ponytail and mess it up. Funny thing is he doesn't complain anymore, which is partly fun yet partly sad because it means he is starting to become too used to Hide's whims. Aafter almost a year he seems to simply have accepted that his supposed future boss is a needy _shit_ who cries constantly. He should just leave and look for a healthier boss.

"Decimo," he says, tilting his head closer to Hide's hand while holding up a thin pistol -that's Mamma's gun, the one she gave him for self defense. "You should hide this better, its place is too obvious."

Ah right, even ten years later, Gokudera still called him Decimo. He had called Takeshi by his given name, but it would seem Hide will be stuck in title limbo for years to come. Should he do something about it?

"Reborn is using the hiding spots of the room, though," he replies, taking the gun and putting it away under his pillow. It _is_ obvious, but it is also easy to reach. He won't let anyone tinker with his gun.

He settles down to wait for the technician and slowly drifts off to sleep.

* * *

Dino keeps his whip and Enzo _far away_ from where Giannini is messing around with everything possible to mess around in the world. He notices Reborn is also keeping his favorite gun hidden, and Gokudera was quick to put his detonator back inside his jacket. The only one who isn't doing anything about Giannini's destructive hands is Lambo, who seems to be having fun watching him pull and put things apart and back together completely wrong.

Hide is looking in mild interest as his baton is twisted and prodded and squeezed until it suddenly vanished into thin air, only to reappear into Lambo's hands like nothing ever happened at all. He groans in confusion, rolling away from what Dino assumes is 'more Reborn-induced crazy'.

Giannini, though destructive with weapons, is quite good with specific functional things like communications and tactical technology. Dino wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with completely mute explosives, immobilizing staves or ammo delivery drones. Useless in some conditions, but really useful in others. Specific functional things.

So, he just looks.

He would have liked to bring in more people to this weapon improvement session, but Romario was having a lazy day and he didn't have any other companion in Namimori this time. No, he has learned his lesson, though Antonio's death didn't even make _sense_ as a warning. It was too sudden and with no real message behind the assassin's work, so Dino doesn't understand.

He is sitting still and perfectly quiet to keep his clumsiness at bay. Who knew what could happen if he did _anything_? Maybe someone else will end up dead, or maybe his tripping will start an alarm that will summon _Hibari Kyoya_ into Hide's room, or maybe sitting cross legged is illegal? What-

"Dino- _san_ , you should relax," Hide says, at the same time as Giannini hands him one of Gokudera's smaller new bombs. He turns in around curiously. "What's it do?"

"It is a smoke bomb! It has been improved to produce more smoke and has a lighter weight and smaller size, but needs more energy to light completely," Giannini excitedly explains. Gokudera listens to the side, probably already making calculations in his mind. "So, it takes a fraction longer to consume all the material, but-"

"About two seconds more, right? I can deal with that." The silver haired bomber snorts, reaching for the small pile of bombs and turning one between his fingers. "Why did you make it... _round_?"

Right, Gokudera doesn't like round things for some reason. Hide holds back his own laughter by Dino's side; honestly, the disdain in Gokudera's voice at having a _round_ bomb is ridiculous.

"Easier maneuverability, easier consumption, your choice?"

" _Gupya_! We should make delayed grenades!"

"Lambo, grenades are already delayed-"

" _More_ delayed!"

Dino can't take it anymore. He breaks out laughing, followed by Hide, and they fall to the ground in a pile of _useless students_.

They get shot for their troubles.

* * *

**058**

**Summer**

How he hates holidays, Hide wants to say openly and without discrimination. _I hate holidays, stick them in February 29th_. It should be legal to celebrate all holidays on February 29th. Except it isn't, and Japan -Namimori, particularly- loves its festivals and holidays and micro events, so Hide finds himself cutting up paper along with Kusakabe Chiyo and a pair of cheerful looking Tsunas in a hospital room.

"I hate holidays."

"But you love festivals," his grandfather says, folding yet another sheet of colored paper so it will be easier to cut later. "And we have to help with the festival so people will enjoy it later."

"Yeah, but why can't we do this through the week instead of the day _before_?" He whines, loudly. His hand is tired of folding and cutting paper, as it is the only thing he has been doing for the past two, three hours. There _aren't_ that many people in Namimori, he is sure of that! "And why us, always?"

"Custom," _sensei_ says straight away, not even a beat later.

"A Boss should always work for his people," Reborn adds, from where he is drinking his coffee atop the hospital bed. Sure, he can talk. He is _not_ helping at all.

"We went to the pool, don't complain so much," adds Tsuna, much to Hide's disappointment. The only one who could support him in his times of pain and suffering, and he doesn't. Little brother, why little brother. "Speaking of the pool, someone broke into it last night."

"I heard about that, how sad our life has become."

The conversation descends into _town gossip_ , much to their shame, with everyone chipping in. Along with who got arrested or questioned for _mysterious happenings_ in the Kokuyo side, two new people were seen wandering Midori with traveling bags a few times, but they were never found again. Hide doesn't even want to _know_ how Tsuna knows of that, but he does, and he probably heard it from the Yumei students he hangs out way too much with for Hide's liking.

"...and there are more birds around than usual."

"Understandable." Somehow, Grandfather always says everything is understandable. Even vanishing stores and immaterial watches are understandable. "It is summer, the air is being renewed."

"Nagi- _san_ is getting anxious about it, says too many birds are bad for her health. _Bad influence_ , she says," Tsuna adds in, serving himself another cup of tea and blowing the steam away. "Shiraishi- _sama_ calls their singing ominous, too; since Hayato- _san_ is being stalked, they are not good birds."

"Natsumi- _kun_ did say she was getting annoyed by the new birds." Kusakabe- _sensei_ pulls four new sheets from the roll they have been taking them from and passes them around. Hide groans, he is _so done_ with cutting paper. "Canaries are not normal in the wild. Personally, I'm blaming global warming."

"Wait, canaries?" Hide looks at Reborn, then at Tsuna, who looks back with a curious face. "I have only seen crows in excess, not canaries? I haven't seen canaries in the wild at all?"

"Maybe Hayato- _san_ 's bad luck is killing them all before they get to you," says Tsuna with a small smile and their grandfather laughs. "Or they are seeing things they shouldn't see, so they keep _blowing up_."

"Sounds like true, sounds like true-"

A knock on the door interrupts Ietsuna's words, and Takeshi comes in followed by an apologetic Sasagawa Michiko. Takeshi grins as he gives a lazy wave, and laughs when Reborn jumps on his head to be carried around.

"Hello, Sawada family! I have come to take Hide away!"

_Freedom_ , he wants to yell to the window, but instead he carefully rolls the paper back up and puts the cutter on the desk. He has done his task, now he can go back to his _other_ task! Finally! Sure, it is still _holidays_ and _festivals_ weeks, but he has more things to do than just cutting paper and hanging lamps and whatever else his grandfather wants him to do.

_Summer_. Eugh.

"Hide," Grandfather calls before he leaves, staff in hand and jacket tied to his waist. He looks back, noticing everyone is back to their works and turns back to the door. "Make sure you enjoy this summer at its fullest."

"...yeah, okay. Bye, grandpa, _sensei_ , Tsuna."

And he leaves, and doesn't look back.

* * *

**059**

**July 7th**

It is the seventh day of the seventh month, most commonly known as Tanabata, but no matter how much Shouichi looks at the heavens he cannot see Altair and Vega crossing paths. A design failure, that one, but can he really expect two stars millions of light years away to cross paths every single earth year like it was planned? Yeah, no, no matter how fast they move, it would still take millions of years for them to get within each other's line of... sight? (did stars have sight), and then they would be fused or something and become a mega star, Vegaltair or whatever.

So, in this festival day with its failure of a meaning, he sits together with Tsunayoshi on a bench near the gate hills' entrance. The bamboo branches (and even a few whole trees, somehow potted as they were up in the shrine) were already filled with too many paper strips -there aren't that many people in Namimori!-, and the festival was ongoing in all their cheer down the street a little farther down.

Which meant Tsunayoshi had gotten overwhelmed, and Shouichi had been _kind_ (sympathetic) enough to get him out of there before things got ugly. He wouldn't be surprised if, come a few more minutes, Yamamoto Takeshi appeared dragging an exhausted Hidetada around, or if Hibari Kyoya dropped from his perch high up on that tree (that one, over there, see?) because he got annoyed by the crowding.

This generation of DC was _impressive_. Impressively easy to get rid of, that is, just gather more than a dozen people and there. There you have it, they will be gone before you know it.

"Shouichi shouldn't have to miss the celebration because of us," whispered Tsunayoshi, who still in all his creepy, I-see-dead-people self, wouldn't stop being the perfect mini nobleman. He was sitting straight, looking on ahead with determined eyes, his small hands clutching on the fabric of his _yukata_ with an imperceptible tremble. "I can get back home alone-"

"Nonsense." No, no, no way. Not after Yamamoto Takeshi seemed to put his eyes on his _little_ friend, he wouldn't allow him to go anywhere alone. Sure, there was the collective hallucination that was Daemon Spade, and he could always ask Kikyo to keep a watch on the more dangerous duo of Hidetada's friends, but still _no way_. "It's okay, I don't see the point to this failure design of a festival, anyways."

"Ah, you mean the stars."

"And some more."

Tsunayoshi reached over to take his hand and Shouichi smiles. He pulls the boy closer to himself and into a one-armed hug, surprised at there being no protests. No protests, no strangely heavy aura around the boy, no sharp words in the edge of his mind whispering _something_ , no... nothing. Just a little boy, slightly scared of the world, slightly scared of people, too smart for his own good and definitely too troubled by the smallest things.

"So, what did Shouichi wish for?"

That's another thing. Tsunayoshi almost never calls Shouichi _'you'_ when it is such a direct question, habit he had probably taken from Byakuran himself (the annoying... darling). Shouichi had long ago guessed it was probably because they wanted to make sure they _were_ , indeed, talking to _him_ , and not some hallucination that _could be_ him, as weird as it sounds. Namimori, nothing makes sense.

Are those birds flying after sundown?

"Wishes don't come true if you speak them out loud," he says (which he doesn't believe at all), slapping Tsunayoshi's head _weakly_. Though he had noticed the annoying old man (Kawahira or whatever) peeking at the wish strips earlier on, he doesn't think it matter all that much. They are only part of the failure design festival, after all. "What did _you_ wish for, since you are so curious?"

"Shiny things." And he says it with no hesitance or a single thought given. Just that, it is probably the first thing in his mind, so it is the first thing he says.

"Of course."

They lapse into an amiable silence, with Shouichi leaning on the bench and looking back at the brightly lit street that is still loud and still has too many people, and Tsunayoshi leaning back onto Shouichi playing with a small ball. He _can_ sense Daemon, somewhere far off, a dark and heavy breeze playing with a tree, and he _can_ sense some of the more dreadful spirits (mirages, they are only mirages) of Namimori desperately clinging to the borders of the town, like a cold, deadly wind that would rather cut your head off than ruffle your hair (and he has always wondered how Tsunayoshi _and_ Hidetada are both so comfortable around them; Shouichi doesn't believe in them, so he isn't scared, but he is still wary of them).

And then, the pinprick in the back of his neck of someone watching. Two eyes piercing his head, making him bend on himself, weighing him down with the pressure that is being constantly watched; two eyes, one person, watching for longer than a casual glance, and from Tsunayoshi's tightening hands he knows he feels it too.

He hears the dull thud of something falling to the ground, the sound of footsteps running away by the entrance to Kokuyo and towards the town, and both Tsunayoshi and himself stand up as quick as they can. The collective hallucination that is Daemon Spade is already back wherever is goes inside Tsunayoshi's mind, and Shouichi takes half a second to get his hand to his pocket, his finger hovering atop the speed dial button. He knows Kikyo will come in a flash if he calls (Byakuran's orders, not that Shouichi _needs_ protection with the killing intent constantly around Tsunayoshi), but the distance is too far, too much, and the time is gone.

"We should head back," he says, and as Tsunayoshi nods he can already feel the coming stomach ache. Namimori is a permanently somber town, at times brightening with a dim light when the eyes from above stop watching, or when there are reasons to celebrate. Festivals are _sacred_ , and for someone to break the laws at an important date, it is just…

Unbelievable.

_Ignore it_ , he thinks to himself, paying a blind eye to Miura Satoshi stalking off from the festival area, a pair of glimmering somethings in his hands and wearing a mask only he could think served as any disguise. _Ignore it and they will ignore you_ , he keeps telling himself as, still holding Tsunayoshi's hand, he has to jump back to not be run over by a crazed looking Hibari Mei Li (surprise, that one).

Whatever they are hunting, it is in for a world of pain.

* * *

**060**

**Gods**

_Summer_ , he wants to groan, in pain and tortured-sounding moans or something equally dramatic. Sawada Hidetada is one of the few people in the whole _city_ who hate summer, if only because of the intolerable _cheer_ of other people around him.

It isn't that he doesn't like… cheerful people, but summer makes _everyone_ feel like they are in the clouds. Which makes Hide feel like he is in the clouds as well, extremely fluffy and smiley, like Haru is besides him at all times and smiling and holding his hand, and it is overall a good sensation that Hide absolutely _hates_. It isn't only that everyone is extremely high spirited, including some people who _shouldn't_ be high spirited, but summer festivals are also some of the holidays he has never felt any right to be part of.

Which is why, as a big part of the town enjoys the pre-festival mood and prepares their little lamps for send off, Hide finds himself in the company of Takeshi, Reborn and Gokudera, patrolling the area. Who knows, there had been word of a bizarre looking group of three people wandering by the riverside, and while apparently the older erasure team (how, again, did he not figure out how _wrong_ Namimori was?) had caught one of them, the deformed man wasn't speaking. There was doubt he could speak at all, so they were giving him a week more before he was to be… burned.

He shudders. This town? So weird.

Gokudera's bird problem hasn't slowed down, either. They keep perching on him, now, cooing and crooning like they had been friends all along. Still no canaries, which had him surprisingly pleased. Whatever, canaries. If Gokudera likes crows and sky rats, whatever, it's his life.

Patrolling with so called _civilians_ is no different than any other time, really. Takeshi is pretty familiar with the DC, and he knows the rulebook pretty well (mostly from Hide reading it to him when they were younger and he was memorizing it). Gokudera and Reborn, though doing their best (Reborn with a Leon-mallet and Gokudera with a model gun), keep getting distracted by the side views the outskirts of Namimori at summertime had to offer.

"Okay, but what is _that_ ," Gokudera asks, pointing at the river crossing, where seven scarecrow-like figures had been stuck in the ground with stakes. They stood, quite lifelike and human-sized, being dressed by a group of wild-looking children. A girl he recognizes as Shiraishi Nagi stands close to them, pointing here and there and probably directing the task, while Haru herself runs around past makeshift bridges and to new scarecrows carrying fabrics and clothes for the children.

"They do look quite weird," says Reborn from atop Gokudera's head, turning Leon into a pair of binoculars and looking through them. "They aren't quite human, are they?"

"Those are the Fire Gods," Hide says, looking down for an easy way to the crossing. The river crossing is dangerous most of the year, but since it dries in summer, it becomes easier to step around for a short couple of weeks. Takeshi, sensing his trouble, hops down and offers him his hand. "Thanks, Takeshi, you're the best."

"You want to greet Haru, don't you?" The baseball player gives Hide a smirk that he has a hard time confusing for something else, and he looks away. Takeshi laughs and he offers a hand to Gokudera, as well. "C'mon, let's go say hi."

"Only because I'm interested in these Gods of yours, freak," says Gokudera, but then he takes Takeshi's hand and goes down the slope. Reborn hops from Gokudera's head to Hide's shoulder, and together they all make the short trek to the dry river crossing.

The river is currently a sad, silver line, not thick or deep enough to really merit being called a river, but also not shallow enough to cross it on foot without it being absolutely annoying. The Gods are propped up on old -ancient, really- stone blocks, surrounded by a huge circle plate of old and wasted stone and marble (which he is sure used to be carved, but it has been ages) which disappears under the river and reappears on the other side, standing proudly on their stakes and being dressed by their servants. They were seven, only one of which Hide recognizes by heart, while the others he has only seen each year for a few minutes before they were burned to the ground.

"Sawada- _sama_ ," says Nagi upon seeing them, giving them a polite and small smile. The other children (for that's all they are) look up from their tasks, and the two he recognizes as the Kuroe twins give them a peace sign before going back to work. "We are still not quite done, so please don't burn the Gods just yet?"

"Wha- it isn't even the day to burn them yet, Shiraishi- _san_!" He laughs, and she… doesn't laugh, just continues giving him a serene smile. At least it is more than other times he has met her, though. "We wanted to introduce them to our guests."

He motions to Gokudera and Reborn, who nod in greeting from where they are investigating the closest scarecrow with disturbing intensity. Hide wants to teach them proper manners, but then Takeshi is shoving them towards Haru and taking over his spot besides Nagi, who waves and goes back to her task. Haru, as it is, shrieks a little at being pushed back and shoves all the fabric on Hide's hand.

"Since you are here, you are helping. No word, you always slack off on days like these, Hide- _san_!"

Which is how Hide finds himself helping around the dressing of the Gods, somehow, in his patrol hours. Much, much later, Hibari looks like he wants to say something, but decides not to; Hide and Tetsuya are surprised and proud of Hibari- _san_ 's maturity.

* * *

**060.b**

**Fake Gods**

They are seven, and they are called Gods.

Gokudera and Reborn inspected every single one of them. Their features, their apparent positions, their general ambient. They had called Bianchi, she had given her output.

They were not Gods. They couldn't be, because if they were then that could be really weird for the Mafia and everything they were. The Mafia used Flames, yet those same Flames were, apparently, revered as Gods by the people of Namimori. Or was it, those who came before the people of Namimori?

There were seven. All faceless, wearing masks carefully and artistically painted with the colors of each of the flames of the Sky. Each of the colors of the rainbow, in designs that were both abstract yet extremely telling. There were seven, and each of them was an element.

Sky was neutral. They wore a mask, plain as the world was round, with only a pair of small horns protruding from the top. Hidetada had taken the mask and cleaned it painstakingly, which allowed Reborn to see Sky's face, but he was disappointed: there was _no_ face. In their loose, hay hands was a sphere, made of glass or perhaps stone, perfectly transparent yet covered in ash. It looked ancient, more than ancient; it looked like a single breeze would break it. When Reborn looked at it, he felt like there was nothing, yet everything, waiting past the ball.

Storm was wrong. Their hands were tied and their mask was painted like their mouth and eyes had been sewn shut. Gokudera had taken a look at it and gone to the next one; it was too disturbing for him, probably. They stood right next to Sky, yet looked the opposite direction (unlike the other six, which faced the center). When Bianchi went to see what was there, she found the two statues of the Guardians of Kokuyo.

Rain was calm. They had a pair of rings in their hay fingers, joined together by what Reborn assumed was piano wire; though there was another, child sized scarecrow doll tied up by said piano wire. It was… slightly more disturbing, yet not as much as the Storm's mask. The child scarecrow was the only one with no mask, revealing a baby-like face which reminded Reborn of someone, someone he saw long, long ago… somewhere… Vecken, Vecken- something?

Lightning was manic. There was a wide, too wide smile painted in their mask, that made it seem like it had cut their face in half and was dripping black ooze. There was a box in their hands, made of stone, which seemed to have delicate carvings on the side -Gokudera had said it looked like a puzzle box. It was the most exquisitely dressed of the scarecrow gods, even though their clothes were made to cover every single inch of their scarecrow body.

Cloud was reverent. There was no mask, instead they were wearing a cloak that covered them whole, head to toe. Two spear-like things were pierced through their scarecrow body, which gave them the impression of being kept standing solely by them; however, when Reborn asked the girl why the scarecrow was dead, she had said he wasn't dead, he was only sleeping. The spears had also been painted, with thin red lines he guessed represented blood, and purple fluff balls that were, maybe, clouds.

Mist was smug. Yes, particularly smug. There was a fake, papier-mâché snake wrapped around their neck and body, and they were holding a stone and metal scale with both their hands. How had the people made hay hands able to hold such heavy things was a mystery, but considering it was Namimori, he doesn't doubt flames were involved. Still, the Mist God didn't look like they cared about anything, just being there, with a crown of flowers that Reborn clearly identified as that shitty judge's own.

Sun was, unexpectedly, the only one with an easy to look at smile. Reborn spent a while circling his apparent patron God, not noticing anything unusual: they were dressed in bright clothes in a conservative fashion, had a turban-like cloth tied to their head and held a huge loaf of bread bundled in cloth that was, apparently, meant to be a baby. Or the harvest. Or something related to fertility? The Kokuyo boy hadn't known how to explain it, even going as far as asking everyone else, but in the end they had left it at that: a bundle of something good. _Something like gifts you give to your child at their birthday, okay_ , and that had been it.

Though Hide had wasted more time chatting with Haru than actually helping, Yamamoto almost ripped apart the child scarecrow the Rain was holding when he was tying the piano wire around it, and Gokudera spent a long while trying to solve the Lightning's puzzle box _and_ the dais the Gods stood on, in the end the scarecrows were done and ready for whenever it was they were going to be used. After Shiraishi Nagi and the other Kokuyo children had thanked them and left, the Namimori citizens headed back home for dinner time.

Now, though, that he can think back on the Gods of Namimori, Reborn has to ask himself what is up with them. What are they? Why are they only known in Namimori?

As he and Hide look on as people send of their small paper lamps, with Hibari Kyoya's creeping presence on the tree they are resting under, he asks his question. Hide takes a while to answer, tired as he is after all the patrolling and stall manning he has done all through today, but in the end he replies.

"Well, dunno, they just are? Always been there. It is fun to watch them burn, though."

* * *

**061**

**Sky**

For some reason, after their return from Namimori port (why), Hayato and company (or rather, Decimo and company, with Hayato) find themselves dragged off in the middle of the night to see the Awakening of the Gods. Whatever that means.

Their visit to the Port was a short one. They went, Tsunayoshi dragged Decimo away to the Dragon Cave (whatever that is; really, Hayato is getting more and more confused each passing day, and he still hasn't managed to break into Kokuyo), and Hayato was left with Yamamoto, Miura and Reborn to find themselves a spot. Not that it was needed, there weren't many people around since it was the Gods' day or whatever, so they had settled down pretty close to the sea and an ice cream selling man to laze around.

Sasagawa, his little sister and the mini-DC girl showed up soon after, throwing themselves on the pile that was their off shot Vongola _famiglia_ , and asking all kind of questions. They didn't seem surprised that Decimo had been kidnapped into the Dragon Cave (again, whatever that is), and settled down with them to wait.

It turned out the Sawada brothers came back, looking like they had seen a couple ghosts, a demon and a serial killer at the same time. When they asked, Decimo said that they had _met a God, and I offended it, help me_ , to which Tsunayoshi laughed weakly and said there was no point worrying about it, the _ryuu_ were pretty laid back and really, Hide- _nii_ , you don't even like the sea so it's okay, they aren't going to kill you.

Hayato didn't ask. No one else did, except Reborn, who asked if this God was also one of the Fire Gods that were awakening today, but Tsunayoshi quickly said that no, these two were Sea Gods (his exact words were _dio de Mare_ , like that, and Hayato felt his eye twitch at the grammar mistake). The matter had been settled and then Sasagawa had challenged both Yamamoto and Decimo to an _extreme_ race around the beach.

They accepted. So when they dragged themselves back to Namimori, they were really tired and in no mood for anything else.

Except, now they are at the river crossing, or near it, where everyone (or well, the part of Namimori that is present, that isn't much) is in high spirits and Hayato feels like a complete outsider. He is pretty sure Reborn and Bianchi feel the same, but they managed to get into the party and _mingle_ with people, while Lambo and I-pin are following Fuuta, Tsuna and the other two girls around like ducklings. It is adorable, but well, Hayato doesn't quite know if he wants to be here.

He recognizes Sawada Ietsuna near the bridge, along with Mamma Sawada and Kusakabe Chiyo. He also recognizes the devil himself, Hibari Masato and his wife, waltzing around the people like it was a social party (he looks tired, even more tired than always. It is amazing how he hasn't dropped dead yet, maybe all the coffee Decimo drinks goes to him?). There is the girl from the other day, Shiraishi, hovering near a woman dancing with a pair of paper fans -is she drunk? She looks quite drunk, much like Kurokawa Fuyuka who seems to be on a mission. Then there is the pervert doctor, Shamal, shamelessly flirting with a pleased looking Sasagawa Michiko (who is supposed to be married); and of course, since there was no way he was missing the fun, Yamamoto senior seems to be having the time of his life cockblocking Shamal by simply being around.

Hayato has all the important and dangerous people accounted for (except, Hibari Kyoya, who should probably be patrolling along with Kusakabe Tetsuya; the annoying Yumei students that are Irie and the other upperclassman; and some schoolmates like Mochida and the Kuroe twins who are… probably somewhere in the world), and he feels he can rest now that their locations are secured. He can keep watch over Decimo (who is still trying to get the girl Haru's attention by beating Yamamoto in some game) and not move from his spot in this comfortable ledge he found. Bless Namimori's odd geography.

"Usually, I could kick you and you would drown," says a bored voice behind him, and Hayato jumps.

Ah, that's right, that's who he was missing. The devil's assault dog. Hayato turns around to look up at the smiling form of Miura Satoshi, though this time he is wearing a facemask (the smile still shows, but it doesn't reach his eyes). The man looks quite festive, with a pale yukata that was clearly made to be an easy target and holding a paper plate with takoyaki. With no invitation, Miura joins Hayato at the ledge (the nerve!) and offers him food.

"Takoyaki?"

"No, thanks. They will probably kill me," he declines, trying to be as polite as possible while keeping his defenses up. Miura is probably _the_ most dangerous person in Namimori, only topped by his owner (and probably the ruler of Kokuyo, but Hayato hasn't met, or plans to meet that one). Reborn is dangerous, yes, but Hayato knows Reborn won't kill him because of a temper tantrum.

"That's cruel," the man says, daring to pout for half a second, and then he eats one of the takoyaki balls like he hasn't even eaten anything better. Of course, he still shows no expression besides absolute glee. "I wouldn't kill Hidetada's lapdog, not even if I was paid millions for it."

"Look who's talking," he responds to the lapdog comment. Truly, between Hayato and Miura Satoshi, there is only one who is truly a trained dog. "And anyways, why are you even here? Shouldn't you be following after your master or something?"

Hayato doesn't want to say they have a history together, because they don't. Through the months he had been trying to get into Kokuyo and learn more of the history of Namimori itself, he had apparently been found out, and shit evolved from there. Miura Satoshi had been one scary opponent that Hayato doesn't want to go against ever again, not even if he had Bianchi and Decimo on his side. Better yet, he would rather face Miura alone than with Bianchi _or_ Decimo on his side. The man wasn't as sadistic as Reborn, but he was an assassin, and a well trained one at that.

Actually, he would prefer to call him _killer_ than assassin. Assassin made him sound so clean and professional, which Miura was anything _but_. Unlike professional assassins, like Shamal or Bianchi who had trained to hit and run, or other professional hitmen like Reborn of Hayato himself who loved the spotlight and performance (Reborn didn't seem like it, but he didn't just shoot and leave, no. He walked up to someone and said, _I will kill you, so you better run_ ), Miura Satoshi made a job out of watching the life fade off the life of his victims and leaving artworks in the wall and the floor. It was disgusting.

He was _damn good_ at what he did, though. The last festival Hayato had gotten the chance to watch Miura leave a (deformed, already quite broken) man barely alive before he was brought in for questioning. Well, the man deserved it, he had been spying on Tsunayoshi. It was quite _fun_ , in a weird, sadistic way, to watch Miura simply stop everything he did simply because Hibari Masato told him to do so. Like strings cut off a puppet.

Damn, now Hayato is becoming all… Namimori-ish. He has to get out of here, soon.

"I don't follow Masa- _chan_ everywhere, you know," Miura says, though his eyes are glued on a certain spot in the festival grounds that are… yep, Hibari senior. "At times I have to follow Kyo- _chan_ so he doesn't get in trouble, too."

"It was _you_." Hayato points an accusing finger at the man. Everything makes sense now. _Hibari Kyoya_ makes so much _sense_ now, what the heck, it is all Miura Satoshi's fault! They had been wondering, Bianchi, Reborn and Hayato himself, how did the prefect king get to be such a _destructive_ shit when his father was literally rainbows, but it was all _Miura Satoshi_. "It is _your_ fault!"

"Mei Li helped- Don't point at me, I'll cut it off." He is not smiling now. Hayato immediately drops his hand. "I heard you were curious about the Gods."

"I am." Hayato takes a second to refocus his sight on Decimo. They have moved, gone on to talk with some person, probably someone Hayato has met and has never bothered to remember their name. There are too many of those. "They are curious, these Fire Gods of yours."

"They are, they are." The man reaches for something inside his _purse_ (why), and takes out a slingshot and a ball. Hayato prepares himself to a long, long story. "Not many people believe in them anymore, what with Westernization catching up with us- that is, Namimori, not Japan, Japan is fine. But us, we have always been really close to our old traditions, and when other people came and brought in their scepticism with them, well, things started getting lost.

"The Watchers from the Sky, the Guides from the Sea, and the Guardians from the Earth. They didn't create the Land, as it existed long since, but they did create life and everything to it related. They gave us fire, fishing and harvest. They gave us safety and care and all that shit-"

"I thought you were being serious."

"I am, shush child." Miura prepared the slingshot and aimed at the Lightning God. Hayato noticed there was a small torch near the feet of each of the scarecrow Gods, and had to laugh. Namimori customs, dramatic customs. "Anyways, those who watch were always more than those who guide and those who guard. The Sky watchers were seven, as you see there, but one turned against their companions and convinced one of them to destroy the Guardians-"

"The one who is looking away?"

"Hmm, yes, that's the one. The traitor, cursed to never see, never move and never speak, forever facing the resting place of those his actions destroyed. I don't know why can't he see, though, I mean wouldn't it be more torturous if he could see it? Well, he burns every year, anyways…"

Shoot, _whiiish_ , and the ball hits the torch. It falls, triggering a mechanism Hayato couldn't see that makes all other torches fall. The Gods go up in flames, and the small crowd cheers. It is almost like when fireworks go up and explode, except the flames just… burn strangely human-like scarecrows, one of which holds a child, another which is stabbed to death and it is plain disturbing.

"So, only one of the Earth was left, and in her sorrow she turned into the mountain, forever trying to be with her dead companions. But she was _so lonely_ she occasionally possessed some birds, so there you have one, Bird guardian of Namimori-"

"I thought it was Kokuyo," Hayato says, looking at the brightly burning scarecrows. If he looks closer, he thinks he can see the flames dissolve into different colors, but that is just his imagination; they are _only_ scarecrows, they have no relation to the real Flames, right?

Down in the river crossing, the drunk woman with the fans is doing some traditional dance. Tsunayoshi is kneeling a bit away from the flaming scarecrows, holding his hand over the ground and staying unnaturally still- actually, he can see Reborn doing the same, in the other side. Weird.

"Shokaku for Namimori and Kawahira for Kokuyo- Oh, yes, one of the Sky guardians, the one who was manipulated into killing everyone of the Earth, was Shokaku's lover, so he came back in his grief and became the river -so you see, this here, Kawahira river-"

"Now you're just fucking with me."

"I can promise you I'm not! Though maybe the love story is a lie, there are no records as to why that guy became the river, he just did. But then he became a snake, and all was good, and he watches Kokuyo- see?" Miura points to the dutifully arranged snake guardian and Hayato snorts. Okay, so they may stare at each other a little, but they are _statues_. Who cares about romance between statues. "So that guy is both there as a statue, and burning over here- he had a snake, you see, it is _symbolic_ or some shit.

"Then there were the Sea guides, who were giant dragons. There were supposed to be hundreds, but from what the _legend_ ," and both of them snort, because Miura Satoshi makes the worst storyteller in the world, "tells us, all of them simply… left. Supposedly, they went to seek better lands and people in other worlds, and were never able to come back. Only one was left, and it, in its great wisdom and boredom, decided to go sleep until someone worthy of its name was born.

"And there you have it, our Gods. And there you have, burning Gods! They burn quite brightly, we can roast marshmallows on them-"

And then Miura is gone, simply jumping off the ledge without a care for the world, at the same time a tonfa strikes the place he was sitting on not a second before. Hibari Kyoya grunts annoyedly, nods at Hayato, and continues on whatever wild hunt he is right now, which makes everyone who hasn't stayed after this far scramble off their paths.

It is only then when Hayato remembers he forgot to ask about the child God.

He shrugs, and looks down at the small, small crowd and at the time. It is _late_ , and those gods look like they will be burning for a while. As he gets down the ledge, he wonders if it is custom of everyone he sees -everyone relate to old town, as it is- to stay around until the gods are completely burned down, and what are they planning to do when it gets too late to stay awake.

Well, it will certainly be a show.

* * *

**061.b**

**Renewal**

_I cannot believe it has been two hundred years-_

_The tradition was not started by Vongola,_ sensei _. As I have said, it has been going on here for ages_ before _._

Daemon smiles at his little apprentice, still kneeling on the ground next to the renewal fire. He knows, to the other side, the Sun Arcobaleno is also doing the same -the tradition may be old, but the Vongola used to do it as well, and so did the Arcobaleno. It is not _weird_ to see it in the most traditional circles of the mafia (though not common, either), and specially not the Arcobaleno themselves: renewal fire is one of the most treasured rituals of the Flame using community, considering how much they _use_ their Flames.

Daemon himself feels… giddy. Light, floaty, slightly lost and only anchoring himself to Tsunayoshi to remain in this world. Unlike the small fires of the candles the other day, this is a _huge_ fire, burning brightly with a single purpose. And he can _feel_ that purpose, can taste it with his very being, and enjoy it just like he does every year.

Once, when he had been younger, he had lit up a forest as renewal fire. He had simply sat there, slept through it; his body had not been made of Flames like it is now. Sure, he had felt his Flames getting stronger, the exhaustion of years of constant use fading away, but it was nothing like _this_ , this great ritual festival Namimori held every year to feed the land with the flames it needed to survive.

Not that many people knew about it. Flame renewal was an old custom which most people did not do often; renewal _fire_ itself was also old, old and mostly forgotten, and burning _anything_ for the sole purpose of restoring your Flames and Will was seen as selfish even back when he was alive.

He is not the only one leeching off the Awakening of the Gods, no. Nor is it Tsunayoshi, or Reborn. Flame users are everywhere in Namimori, it has reached a point where one could pick up a stone and underneath it there would be a Flame user. Daemon can see the reverse elements of Namimori crowding around each other (without their sky, because Iemitsu is a failure, but Ietsuna seems to be making a good job taking his place), the woman Bianchi and the pervert Shamal quietly talking to a side with their palms open towards the fire.

There is also a group of curious looking spheres inside the fire. They weren't there before, so Daemon guesses Kawahira put them there the moment of the burning. It seems that, for another year, Namimori won't flood.

Tsunayoshi carefully takes his pacifier out from the ground and puts it back in his pocket. Still feeling giddy, Daemon wraps himself around his student, and points at Hidetada.

_Marshmallows._

_Oh,_ hell _no._

* * *

**(redacted) interlude**

**count of flowers**

In one of the highest floors of the Flower Palace (yes, a ridiculous name, but it was named by Byakuran), there is a room. The room is dark, cluttered, messy; the only orderly thing is the bed, and that is permanently undone and with clothes scattered around. There is a fluffy carpet on the ground, where a white lion with a black mane sleeps next to a burning fire, and piles upon piles of boxes, small items, apparently important papers and open books are thrown around with no apparent order.

The silence is deafening.

The door bangs open, startling the lion awake.

Tired, short footsteps make their way through the room, through the maze of objects littered on the ground. A cape gets lazily thrown on a stack of open books, and a mask is carefully placed on a stand by the bed. A ring and a box are placed on a table, next to a glass sphere, at the same time a pair of dress shoes goes flying to the wall.

There is a man. He is small sized, yet his presence screams that he has lived for longer than he apparents. A dull, orange pacifier hangs from his neck, though the color seems to shift between washed out or too dark. Long, light and wavy brown hair spills down his back and orange eyes seem to glow in the dark; he wears fine clothes in black and white, with metal decorations attached to his sleeves. Awkward, yes, but he gives the feeling of being an extremely important person in this world.

He reaches for the lion, into the moonlight that is the only source of light besides the fire, curling up besides it with a quiet sigh and a crack of bones. The man winces at the sound, rubbing his back, muttering to himself that he has been sitting far too long.

"It has been a while, Natsu," the man says, stroking the lion's head with tenderness and burying his face into its mane. The lion, Natsu, purrs and leans further into his master's hands, dropping his paw into his lap. It is an awkward tangle that they are used to and seem to curl into whenever they feel too lonely. "I feel a little sad today, but I don't want to drink today. Or go out at all.

"Byakuran doesn't want to talk to me today," the man continues, talking to himself even when the lion and the long gone echo of someone else are listening, and can probably understand. "He is all about _building the future_ , but let's be honest with ourselves, Natsu. Do we have a future?

The lion growls sadly. They remain silent for a long, long while.

"We can- _will_ do it, won't we? Not dead, not dead, we are not dead yet."

No one can see the man crying. No one ever does.

* * *

**(redacted) interlude**

**final arrival**

" _Anything to report?"_

_"No, sir. We have managed to track the fugitives to Japan, but we lost them. It would seem Kakimoto's skills are better than we thought."_

_"We have been hunting Joshima and Mordree after they parted ways in Russia. They seemed to be heading to Osaka. Modree has short-circuited every camera they pass through, leading us in quite a straight line. We lost Kakimoto and Rokudo, but-"_

_"Be careful. It could be a trap. None of them are to be underestimated, especially not Rokudo."_

_"We got it, s-_ bzzt _."_

_"Wha-_ bzzt _."_

_"...Squad 02, squad 05. Respond."_

_"_ _**bzzzzzzzzzzt-** _ _"_

_"Damn it, Rokudo!"_ _**slam** _ _"-who's the-"_

_"_ Dear child, worry not. _"_

_"V-Vindi-"_

_"_ We shall take it from here. _"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? Did we really _finish the daily life arc?_ What is this, call the press, sacrifice my hands I'M GOING TO DIE? THANKS FOR EVERYONE FOR MAKING IT SO FAR! And tolerating me... and my terrible writing... Now for actual, real notes, there was supposed to be an extra episode here (called _Ghosts of Somewhere else_ ), but I already had too much supernatural like this. You will get to read it... after Kokuyo.
> 
> I have exam week coming up, but the next chapter is already written, so that's okay (I can't say the same for We failed Once, I'm sorry orz...). Since we are in intermission, you have free reign to ask questions about Namimori and the people in Namimori and... things. Like the causal loop. Yeah, I'll try to answer unless it's spoiler!
> 
> "grow fur and wear a red cap": here Tsuna is making reference to a leshiy, a Russian forest spirit that is _too_ cheerful and _too_ scary. _dio de Mare_ : Okay, here. It should be Dei del Mare, but a) Byakuran's ryuu, and thus the Mare guardians, aren't two beings, they are one that appear as two and b) Mare here acts as a family name.
> 
> About the canaries, they are Birds's canaries. Your guess about why Hide himself hasn'tt seen canaries is probably right. Also, the weird people being sighted? Yeah, Kokuyos. And the captured guy? Yeeeeah Kokuyos. You know which one.
> 
> On the different between assasssin and hitman, there is supposed to be none, but hey. Hey. Assassin just gives the idea of a more quiet affair (pfft Varia) while hitmen… well, look at the ones in Reborn, they are kinda showy? Also, why is Miura Satoshi talking so much? He's… kinda crazy. Yes. ;Miura Satoshi shouldn't tell stories, but he is Gokudera's annoying mentor- sorry Shamal, you will get to shine _later_.
> 
> EDIT: I forgot to add this. You know how in canon, Haru's father is an university professor? Yeah, he is, he is. Namimori is built around family drama, there isn't a single family that is legit normal. Haru's canon father exists, he is just... Somewhere else. This is the universe where everything went wrooooong. Also I'll probably go through a run to fix grammar mistakes this week so sorry if things get messed up.
> 
> Thanks for reading and all that, wow! Amazing! Bless you all.


	12. Intermission I: Machinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One evening, under the watch of a simple woman, a pair of boys go missing. This is the fallout through the following days and those involved in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:** None, just usual creepy shit. I shouldn't have to warn you about this. Yeah- oh, also worldbuilding, and plot.

**sky of swords**

Yesterday morning, he woke up with a heavy feeling in his head. It wasn't a headache, like those he felt when there was something wrong with the spirits in town or when Mamma (and lately, Reborn) was in a bad mood; it was more of a steady, raising siren in the back of his mind, screaming at him to _move_ , to do _something_ before whatever needs to happen ruins his life.

Ruin his life, it did.

The feeling is still there, in the back of his mind, but it isn't screaming for attention anymore. Just like an ambulance will shut down its emergency siren and lights if there is no urgency for action, his mind had done the same. _Shut down_. All but vital functions had been shoved back into the back of his consciousness.

Was he even awake? Alive? Conscious at all? This had to be a dream, a terrible illusion cast around him to force him to stay. Blackmail. Bribery. Except it isn't, because then he would feel it fake and he feels it _quite real._

The door slams behind him and he is aware, in a vague way that makes him not _care_ , that Reborn has left the room. Which is good, honestly: Hide doesn't want to meet anyone right now. Now, or in a few hours more. Maybe for lunch he will move, but he doesn't think he can stomach anything today.

How many hours have passed, anyways?

His grandfather is dying a few rooms down the hall. His brothers are missing. His head is shambles. His father is a bastard and his mother is breaking. _His grandfather is dying_. _His brothers are missing_.

The neighbour lady, Takeda Keiko, is unconscious in the bed in front of him. A crew of DC, Neighbourhood Watch and even the some people from Kokuyo probably stand outside the door, waiting. Hibari Masato is giving orders by himself for the first time since a pair of outsiders had attacked Sasagawa Kyoko right in the middle of campus, voice surprisingly emotional for a _Hibari_ , but then again, it is Masato- _sama_.

Not for the first time today, he feels like screaming.

His mother, pale faced with eyes burning in pure fury, had given him his calming pills before she left. He hasn't taken them, since he feels they will dull his thinking more than it already is, but he really wants one right now. The world is tilting to one side, reality tilts to the other and a cloud of vagueness floats around his eyes. Everything blurs together, keeping only a couple of words in his mind:

_Sawada Tsunayoshi and Fuuta della Stella vanished two blocks from their house at 20:48 last night. Takeda Keiko, 32 years old, seems to be the only witness. She shows symptoms of contact with unidentified poison._

She is the only one who saw the attack. The only one who _knows_ anything, the only one who can help him _find his little brothers_. _His_ baby brothers, _his_.

_Tsuna and Fuuta_.

He can't even ask his usual support for help, because Ietsuna is _dying_.

Feeling weak and exposed, he wraps his arms around himself and cries.

* * *

**rain of swords**

His father has been called to the Hibari compound, so Takeshi is left alone at home.

He opens the fridge, takes a frozen cold water bottle he put there last night and splashes it on his head. His head throbs in pain immediately, but well, he doesn't really feel it. It is like a dull ache, far far away, somewhere gone and lost. He feels lost.

He had spent most of the day at the hospital besides Hide. With his brothers missing and his grandfather in the condition he was, his darling best friend hadn't even thought of moving from the plastic chairs. At times he would stand, move a few chairs down, sit down again and continue pulling at his hair.

Takeshi had been the same, but then he had followed Gokudera when he had gone out. Not that he got far, because he had been stopped by his father himself who told him to _go home, lock all the doors and not leave_ _until I come back_.

Which is why Takeshi finds himself alone at home, in an empty, empty house that reminds him of lost families and lost sanctuary.

He walks back into the _dōjō_ , where he has spent so many days and hours training. For what, he never knew, he had just been told to become strong doing what he liked. To become strong doing what he _enjoyed_ , because nothing else would save him from Namimori. He had been told to become strong, and then he had been introduced to Sawada Hidetada and it had become a race.

He kneels before his mother's _wakizashi_ , pulling it to his lap. It growls under his hands, like some weird, long asleep animal that has been bothered in its rest, but he knows the sword won't hurt him. Not anymore, at least.

Shigure Kintoki lays just above it, in its dormant shape. He leaves it be.

" _Takeshi,"_ Hide had said one day, out of nowhere, twirling his staff between his fingers without paying much attention. _"If I was to be fated to become a dangerous person, what would you do?"_

" _I would say that fate can be changed,"_ he had replied. That was back when his bat still felt comfortable in his hands, when he could still call his teammates friends. _"But I think you know that is not true."_

" _You don't believe in fate, do you?"_

" _I believe in what I see, and I see a crybaby-"_

" _...I am going to begin training. To become a mafia boss."_

Those were the words that had changed Takeshi's perception of the world. Or rather, Takeshi's perception of his best friend, of the world surrounding his best friend, or everything Hidetada ever did. The Sawada were weird and there were always people watching. _Always_. From his father to the teachers, the high rulers and the outsiders; there always seemed to be _someone_ keeping an eye on Hide.

He didn't believe it, at first. Until the event with Longchamp, he hadn't believed it at all. The appearance of the baby could be explained, Gokudera could be explained. Mafialand sounded like a fun name, and Namimori was weird by design. Nothing was _wrong_ , but his mother did go missing, his father did _kill people_.

They had been brought back, kicking and screaming, only to be forced to accept that there was _nothing_ wrong with Namimori. The normalcy had been beaten into their heads. _Accept_. _Conform_. _You are born here and here you shall die._

Back then, he hadn't believed Hide, but he had still said (jokingly) he would follow Hide wherever he wanted to go. Now, though, Takeshi realizes the truth. The mafia is real. Namimori is hell on earth. None of them are quite normal and they can't stay here.

Tsunayoshi has gone missing, and Takeshi's brother by choice is in despair. Complete and absolutely broken beyond repair.

He will do whatever it takes to bring Tsunayoshi back, even if it means unsheathing Asari Kou's cursed sword.

* * *

**storm of swords**

Hayato slams his fist against the wall. Once. Twice. Once more. Again, until he felt blood run down his clenched fingers and dust fell from the concrete wall. He ignores Yamamoto muttering angrily next to him, ignores Mamma Sawada making call after call from down the hall, ignores _Reborn_ as he paces -or rather, Bianchi paces- right and left past the windows.

Hayato is different than them. He _knows_ , he knows that Tsunayoshi will not become a good person. He knows that out of a dozen problems and fights in the future, probably a half of them are related to Tsunayoshi's mere presence in their lives. It has taken him a while to accept it, but he _knows_ and understands it well.

Still, that doesn't mean he doesn't feel grief at the boy's disappearance. Neither Tsunayoshi or Fuuta deserve to be pulled into the terrible world that is the Mafia -and Hayato doesn't doubt this kidnapping is related to the mafia. Fuuta's involvement is enough to make that clear and, well, he has had a few hours to think about it.

Fuuta and Tsunayoshi. Tsunayoshi and Fuuta. One is an informant and the other is-

He shakes his head and storms out of the hospital.

In this situation, there are only two places a person, used or not to Namimori's dealings, would be able to hide from sight. Outsiders would usually use the warehouses around the town, since they are where outsiders usually go to, though Reborn has already sent people to scout them. Nothing showed up, which means there is only one other place he has to check.

He makes it as far as the gate hills towards Kokuyo when he is stopped by Miura Satoshi.

"Where," says the man, slouching on himself and for once, not smiling. He holds a generic looking phone in one hand and his usual clipper in the other, and looks for all his like he is your everyday repairman. Not that he is. "Do you think you are going?"

"...Kokuyo." Which is the only place they are not able to observe, scout or even remember. _Kokuyo_ , the one place he has been checking out for months and hasn't been able to get anything from, the one _cursed place_ where Tsunayoshi and Fuuta could be.

"I cannot allow that, Gokudera Hayato." Miura's face remains as stoic as always, with his eyes peering into Hayato's own. It is unnerving and uneasy, and as the man takes a step forwards, Hayato steps back. "Masato has prohibited all interference of children, outsiders and civilians in this case. Mister R included."

So, basically everyone. He doesn't know _yet_ who Hibari Masato takes orders from, but he is keeping everyone away from Tsunayoshi and Fuuta's kidnapping as hard as he can. The whole case is under wraps, as he has never even _seen_ anyone worrying about it. Two children go missing, and even if the Sawada have a terrible reputation in the town, they are still _two_ _children_.

Hayato has noticed too many things, and one of them is that this particular case won't even be noticeable by other people. Fuuta is not registered in the town as an official citizen, just a refugee: he doesn't go to school, has no home to call his own and answers to no family. He is a black hole, void and null, and for all the neighbours could care, the cute foreigner kid staying with the Sawada has gone back to his country.

Tsunayoshi is a whole different thing, as he is an _extremely_ important person who is also an hermit, hated by everyone and feared by too many. He rarely goes to school as it is, so him missing class won't even be a thing to worry to the teachers. His disappearance may even be celebrated by those who should be his closest acquaintances -his classmates.

Hayato feels Miura gently taking him back by the arm, and he allows it. So maybe the man is an efficient destroyer of lives, but if Hibari Masato has decided to take this case in his own hands, then-

Then, can they even do _anything_?

* * *

**sun of wands**

Reborn is ready to give up and present his resignation letter to Nono. Anytime now. Tomorrow, probably.

He looks at the reports his spies (various insects and lizards, because they are beautiful) and scouts have sent back from the warehouses. _Nothing_. A couple dozen contraband warehouses in Namimori, and none of them are hiding the kidnapped children. _None_. Why, what, or rather, why is he even being stopped from investigating this case?

Fuuta is under his protection (Nana's, really, but she falls under his protection as well). Tsunayoshi is his student. He has _all the right_ to get involved in this case, but the stupid _king_ keeps getting in his way.

What's more, Gokudera has vanished. Yamamoto is, apparently, under house arrest. Hidetada won't move from the hospital rooms his grandfather is either dying in or Takeda Keiko is resting at. Lambo and I-pin are staying with Nana at the Kusakabe house, and Bianchi had been offered refuge at the Kurokawa house. Reborn himself had decided to stay with Hide; if someone had taken away the informant, then there is a chance they are after Hide.

He's not taking that chance, especially not after Colonnello's call.

" _Hey,_ kora _! So, you know the convict we are chasing, we traced him all the way to Namimori. Which means the case is all yours, Reborn-_ chan, kora _! We can't get in there without a shitpile of paperwork and neither of us is in the mood. That's all, good luck,_ kora _!"_

The other Arcobaleno had spoken so fast Reborn hadn't even had time to reply. Damn annoying idiot, just dumping his job on Reborn like he has the time to chase after… what, a wayward illusionist with over dramatic tendencies, okay? He doesn't even know where to-

Wait.

Illusionist with dramatic tendencies.

" _Tsunayoshi's body was reported seen in the scene, but it wasn't found. Besides, the only blood we found belonged to Takeda-_ san _. We believe he, that both of them are still alive."_

Through the side of his eye, Reborn sees Hide sit besides him again. He has been crying, that much is clear; Reborn doesn't know how Hide will take it if he sits on him, though, so he just stays still with the folder by his side.

"You will have to return to class, soon," he says. As much as he hates everything Namimori and secretive policies, he knows that schooling cannot simply be stopped. Hide needs to continue studying.

"...Grandfather said school would be cancelled soon," Hide replies, raising his feet to the chair and leaning his head on his knees. There is a loud sound when his staff hits the floor next to him. "It doesn't matter right now."

A bird cries outside in the night, and Hide curls up on himself to sleep. For one second, Reborn thinks he can see the shape of an old, long dead man settling around him, covering him with a mantle; but it is only an illusion.

_Illusion_.

He takes a pen and a notebook from his pocket and starts to take down notes. If he isn't actively searching, he is not breaking any rules.

Inside his hat, Leon sleeps in his cocoon. Hopefully, he will wake up soon.

* * *

**lightning of wands**

A few days before the event, Kusakabe Chiyo had found herself sitting besides a hospital bed, a small teacup in her hands. Besides her, there was a table with a silver, carved tray, a small plate of cookies and an antique teapot, or well, the replica of said teapot that was behind strengthened glass back at her family house.

She… had a really bad feeling, that day, but she was not a Sawada by blood and thus, her gut feelings were not to worry about. Maybe she would have commented about the dread she felt later, before she left and her younger brother was sleeping, in hope he would not hear and not worry, least his illness gets worse. But she didn't. She didn't have the strength to ruin their peaceful lives, that day.

"I cannot believe that boy, honest, Chiyo! They aren't of age yet, heck they aren't even fifteen! I had never _heard_ of a Boss taking over at _fourteen_!"

Her brother, Sawada Ietsuna, was complaining a lot, that day.

Though younger than her by just a year, Chiyo always believed her brother to be the most precious child to be protected. Ietsuna had been a lot like Tsunayoshi, nowadays: quiet, asocial, in a constant state of boredom and apathy for the world that was roughed out of him when he became the too-young head of the family and began dealing with society and etiquette and the disgusting world their family was part of. Much like Hibari Masato, the last generation, and both of them turned out to be terrible role models for the heirs.

Chiyo saw her brother as a little brat, pampered and spoiled by his mother, ignored by his father, forced to lead far too young and used to having things his way. She would never say it to his face, of course, but he probably suspected it (he was, after all, a Sawada) as their mother would yell it at him when her patience reached her limit. Maybe that same upbringing had lead him to hold Iemitsu too close, which lead the boy to push him away when time was due.

She often wondered what would have happened had the Vongola tried to take the children away with Ietsuna at full strength. She would have, no doubt, followed him no matter what he did; alas, it wouldn't be. Thanks to Iemitsu's terrible interference, Hidetada was to become Vongola Decimo and Tsunayoshi would probably be taken away soon after.

Namimori _needed_ the Sawada. The Hibari family alone was not enough to protect all of them from the snake's fangs; Masato himself was close to dying from the stress. But, well, she can't do anything about all this, can she?

At worst, history will repeat itself once again.

"You are assuming Timoteo has passed, Ietsuna- _sama_. We can only hope he lasts until Hidetada turns eighteen," she said, placing her tea cup back on the tray and folding her hands on her lap. She was old, yes, but she was still a Sawada. Matters such as these were everyday stuff for her. "Besides, he hasn't been named _successor_ as of yet. The rings haven't been delivered and, asides from Iemitsu's rare call and Reborn- _san_ 's presence here, neither the CEDEF or Vongola itself know of their foreign heir."

"What _is_ Iemitsu doing, anyways? Shouldn't he have come back _before_ Reborn arrived?" Ietsuna's hands trembled around his own teacup and Chiyo reached for his wrist, trying to prevent the needle from dislodging itself. Her little brother's health got worse by each day. It was… disturbing. "Call that child and tell him to come home."

"Shall do."

When she left, unassumingly a short while later, she walked past Sasagawa Michiko. They said their greetings with common courtesy and, after receiving the medicine prescription from the counter, she left.

Now she is back, three days later, holding Ietsuna's hand through his fever. The bird by the window coos softly, even mocking, and she feels like destroying everything that is Namimori, once more, again, like always.

* * *

**mists of wands**

"Kyoko, sleep time," her mother had called from past the door, that day, while injecting some unknown toxin into what Kyoko now knows was Sawada Ietsuna's daily medicine. That could have explained many things, but Kyoko didn't really care at that moment. "Tell Ryo to get out of the shower."

Like every other day, she had complied. Walked upstairs, yelled at her brother to stop hogging the warm water, then gone to her room to get her nightclothes. Pink and gray, with little kittens, the cutest pajamas she has; she grabbed them and skipped back downstairs for her milk before she went to sleep.

Except she didn't make it to the kitchen.

She had run out of the door, much to her mother's confused yell, ignoring the cold of summer night. Barefoot, she had ran a block and a half towards Tsuna's house before Kurokawa Fuyuka had stopped her.

"Kyoko- _chan_ , wandering outdoors after nightfall is prohibited for children under fourteen," the woman had said; Kyoko had heard her, through the static that clouded her mind, but she hadn't replied. Struggling, kicking and biting, she tried to get away from Hana's mother- she _had_ to.

_Tell her to go herself_ , Daemon's voice, covered in static, tried to say. It had been garbled, messy, far away in a diagonal line from her own thoughts, since the _shock_ and impossible headache that had been his sudden arrival.

Sudden, broken. As if he had been cut off his life support, in so much pain he couldn't even _think_ of stepping away from Kyoko. Daemon only approached Kyoko in _one_ circumstance, and that was if Tsuna was blocked off him. _One_ _impossible situation_ , because Daemon and Tsuna had become interdependent (or whatever) of each other since they _met._

She should have _never_ allowed the wayward spirit to meet the Sawada heir. Except, if she hadn't, then she would be without a best friend. She understood this, and understood that Daemon may be a crazy and dangerous spirit that brought families to their demise, but she also understood he _loved_ Tsuna with all his not-heart and not-soul.

Though she understood, she still didn't want to follow Daemon's command. She shook her head and pulled herself off Fuyuka- _san_ 's hands after biting her wrist with all her strength, ignoring the taste of blood in her mouth, and ran off to the spot Daemon kept signaling.

One impossibly dangerous situation, that could break her best friend's mind and her other best friend's heart and her own, and what was she supposed to do without Tsuna? She can't deal with this _crazy_ town by herself, not even if Hidetada is around. She needed Tsuna's constant support by her side, just like Tsuna needed her to keep him in a relatively stable mood at all times. Just like they both need Hana, and Shouichi, and Haru- _san_ , so there was no way the impossible situation of _Daemon not being able to reach Tsuna_ had happened.

It is exactly what happened, though.

She held back a scream and dropped to her knees, ignoring the steps and yells following after her. She was tired, it was around her bedtime, and she was in no situation to be dealing with this; Daemon's _static_ sent her mind in disarray at the sight and she felt herself losing hold of her reality and herself.

Blood.

There was _so much blood_.

By the streetlight she could see what she now recognizes as Takeda Keiko, thrown on the ground laying on a pool of _red_ , her clothes tattered and a mess. A small, shiny needle laid a few centimeters from her hand, ominous as the sole light in the scene; _drip_ , something went, and Kyoko's attention was called to the wall, where the ragged, sticky remains of what could only be Fuuta's bag were stuck on a broken pipeline.

Covered in pale, washed out _red_ , melting together with water and scurrying out the alley like it didn't want to be there. And maybe it didn't. It didn't because of the disgusting, rotting smell that came from the trashcan, spilled by the other side, with a human arm and a human leg sticking out. A shoe hung from the foot and Kyoko screamed when she recognized it as _Tsuna_ 's.

"Kyo… Dear Gods, what-" Fuyuka _-san_ stepped up behind her, her voice dull with shock. Kyoko fell off the shock and into desperation even as the woman wrapped her arms around her, her voice coming from some far, far away place. ( _Masa_ -chan _, I know it is past your bedtime, but if you don't come over_ right now-)

Her body felt dead and out of time. Cold. Gone. Daemon wrapped his consciousness around her own, and like that, she collapsed until the following morning.

* * *

**goblet of orchids**

Byakuran woke up with his heart beating fast, seven different beats melting into one erratic and constant buzzing. Maybe like a little animal, or a fictitious dragon made of blood and flesh, except he is human and the uncoordinated beat threw him headfirst into the hospital. Again. For the third time this month.

Damn.

He quickly snaps the connection between this world and the others, letting his trusted companions materialize besides him. He is missing something, but he doesn't know what; since he doesn't know what, he can't do anything about it. They are off-time the other worlds, so he can't check, and even if he could he feels too tired as he a) hasn't eaten yet and b) had a terrible night.

Double damn.

No one is picking up their phones, either, so he can't know what is going on. Maybe it is time he stopped moving around and settled down, but he is the only one who can actively do things since everyone else is either too small or too stuck in Namimori to be able to do anything. He is isolated from _his_ true friends, traveling the world looking for his _alternate'_ s friends in a desperate approach to feel more complete. He has found some, but some aren't even alive, yet (maybe they never will) and some others have already passed away (bringing _his_ sanity with them, leaving him stranded with feelings for unknown faces).

Keeping himself focused in the long-lasting task that is uniting the Millefiore keeps him away from worrying about the affairs of the world. If he spent too long with Tsunayoshi,they would probably get depressed and die, and then nothing would get done. That gets depressing when he thinks about it, and then nothing gets done!

...even now, nothing is getting done, anyways. Triple damn, okay Byakuran, get moving!

The calendar he took months to mark with every single important event in his alternate's lives mocks him from his computer's screen. Right now, when he is just waking up and his sense of time is rather confused, he doesn't know if it is September or January; he doesn't even know the year. He can't contact Tsunayoshi nor Enma because neither picks up their phones in time, and Shouichi isn't paying attention. Spanner is too far away to be of use and-

The phone rings. Message.

_You have thirty seconds to tell me who Rokudo Mukuro is._

Ah. That's what he was forgetting. The time is September, then. September, and they are under attack. Pineapple attack-

...Mukuro destroyed his predictions again. Damn it, now he will have to fix his predictions for future events. Maybe he will go look for Fran before meeting him, he would be a nice peace offering. Or hostage. Rather, he should kill Fran, it would make everything easier, but he is pretty sure he can't because the loop wouldn't allow it…?

Has Tsunayoshi seen Fran in his visions? He should ask, but no, wait, approaching Fran at this point of time would be reckless and… hilarious- Focus Byakuran!

Either way, it may be time to go back Namimori. It has only been like a month since he left! Now, where did he put Kikyo's contact information...

* * *

**goblet of bellflowers & roses**

In a small dorm in Midori, a window suddenly breaks.

Rather, Daisy trips, sending the tray that was today's lunch flying to a closed window, which breaks and destroys everything. Daisy then goes flying past the window, kicked by a tired Zakuro, who hasn't had a chance to get his morning shower yet, and so the day begins in the worst way it could begin.

Kikyo loves it. He is already ruining the lives of people around him, he is pleased by this. His motto is that, if he can ruin someone's life a day, then he has succeeded in life. This life. Whatever that is supposed to mean.

_His_ day, though, is ruined by a call from his fellow Millefiore. Future Millefiore? That guy, the one that watches over Tsunayoshi. _Irie Shouichi_.

" _Tsunayoshi has gone missing_ ," is the first thing he says, and Kikyo wants to throw his phone to the wall or maybe throw his phone at Daisy and Zakuro for being noisy. This is important and he is not in the mood for _games_. " _Fuuta, too."_

"Does Byakuran- _sama_ know?" He motions at the other two that he will be gone, and runs down the halls. If he is in time, he may catch this morning's weekend gossip. "Or Enma- _sama_?"

" _I sent a message to Byakuran, but Enma is under watch. Spanner wants to come by because he says we are all useless._ " Yes, he would say that. The boy is too smart for his own good. Like most people Kikyo surrounds himself with. " _I can't actually do anything._ "

"We have exams coming up and Daisy is heading b- Oh." He feels the heat of flames wrap like a crown around his head and sighs. White and black, spinning in lazy motions around him like they can't be bothered to move faster. "I have received dragons."

" _Ugh, that idiot- I'll tell him to not come over, but they may be useful. Things are going to get dangerous, so please be careful._ "

And like that, Shouichi hangs up. Kikyo is rather surprised the redhead managed to keep his panic in check (that boy is _obsessed_ with Tsunayoshi), but now he has a dragon pair to take care of.

He picks up the chocolate box (when did Byakuran find time to buy chocolates to send them, anyways) and letter from the dragons and, after shooing them back to his dorm, slides his student's ID in the card reader next to the security guard's door. The door opens to show a tired looking guard, all messy hair and dirty clothes and, most importantly, male.

Kikyo _hates_ men.

He closes the door shut behind him after making sure the guard will not bleed to death from the blow. It wasn't even that hard, he is pretty sure people are slacking off around Midori because they don't want outsiders to know how fucked up the whole city is. Ah, well it is easier for him this way, if he can smuggle Daisy in every few weeks he can totally spy on his more shady classmates' gossip through the campus' cameras.

After connecting his phone and making sure Shouichi knows he is online, shutting off the card reader lock on the door and opening his chocolate box, he sits down and readies himself for a long, long day of people stalking.

_Joy_.

* * *

**goblet of the night sky**

There is a dull, dull ache in the back of his head where the crazed boy had hit him. There is also a dull, dull ache in the _inside_ of his head where Daemon's presence was brutally ripped from his consciousness. And, a faded sense of _no_ that he feels whenever his pacifier-slash-life-source is too far away from his body.

He groans and opens his eyes. It is the worst mistake he has made as of yet.

The light is _unbearable_. Bright, sunny, _midday sun_. He pulls the Mist flames around his eyes to cover it, but he _can't_ because Daemon isn't here and he has _no Mist flames_ , so he just closes his eyes again. He _feels_ himself smaller than usual, weaker and younger, not even fully functioning because his pacifier is all the way in his bag which is…

Where is his bag?

"Tsuna," Fuuta's voice says from besides him, barely a whisper and desperate with something. "Tsuna, you are awake, you are alive, Tsuna-"

Yes, well, he is. Barely. He rolls over to get closer to Fuuta's voice, except he feels something _tug_ at his heart from the opposite corner, and whines.

"Fuu-"

"I know. I know, I'm sorry Tsuna, I'm so sorry," Fuuta's voice keeps apologizing even when Tsuna feels his brother come closer to him. Clumsy, but he doesn't sound damaged or hurt besides obvious distress at their situation.

He sits up after a few seconds of struggling with his too-weak hands and too-short limbs. A few blinks later he starts getting used to the _midday_ sun coming from the window, and a heartbeat later he has Fuuta at his side sobbing on his shirt. He has to hiss at the closeness -it would seem he has bruises which haven't been healing properly, and again, he has no Daemon to treat them.

...he is really dependant of Daemon, isn't he?

He feels so empty and void he can't even get himself to panic about his obviously terrible situation. Kidnapped by crazy beast guy. Reason unknown (probably Fuuta). Life support stone in unknown location. He should also be collapsing like Fuuta is right now, but without Daemon he feels… _not._

Like static.

He feels around for his cursed stone, which is in _that_ corner. He would get up and go get it, except… he can't feel his legs.

Or his arms.

Or his whole body.

He gasps (he can't feel his _lungs_ ) and _screams_ until the crazy, crazy beast guy runs in, all midday sun and _his bag_ , and things start feeling...

Not okay, no, but at least he can breath again.

* * *

**lightning of coins**

Miura Satoshi finds himself sitting with Gokudera Hayato in what was originally known as Old Town's house of records. Or, to some of those more aware of the history behind Namimori, G's house, where all ancient texts and records that were never brought back into the archive at the Hibari compound were stored.

It has been four days since the little Seer and the Informant were kidnapped and everyone is already on the last of their nerves. Four days of someone going missing is _a lot_ for Namimori standard, where everyone knows where everyone is at all times and everyone knows where people go when they aren't in sight. Children, specially.

It is _particularly annoying_ that the people missing are the Sawada heir and the boy that has joined his little group. Fuuta della Stella is a popular informant in the circles that frequent Namimori, and his sudden disappearance could bring trouble to them, of the 'did you make the child disappear' or 'are you keeping the child to yourself' kind. Not that anyone in Namimori would, because they care about their refugees, okay, but other people _don't_ _know_.

The Sawada heir is another case altogether. But Satoshi has no permission to speak about that.

They confirmed that the children are in Kokuyo, though, which is an advance. Not _where_ in Kokuyo, and as small as the town was the people of Kokuyo weren't really cooperative to those who came from Namimori, so it isn't like they can just go and ask around. Oh, he guesses they _can_ go and torture the information out of them, but that would be cruel and inhumane, and no thanks. Not even if a few of them are walking corpses.

"Why are you keeping these hidden if they are so important?"

Gokudera Hayato is an interesting kid. Satoshi likes him, not as much as he likes, say, Fuyuka, but definitely more than he likes any of the Sawada. Any of them. The kid is currently flipping through the old, age-stained pages of a journal which, if Satoshi remembers well, explains in long detail the duty and history of the DC (which is ancient and definitely a mystery); from back when it was just the border guard and city watch, to when it became a formal army, to when it was dissolved for _mutiny against the nation_ for denying merging with Japan's own military, becoming part of school curriculum as a _club_. It is a nice story, covered in blood and _names_ , that Satoshi has probably read a few times and Kyoya a couple more.

Satoshi takes a sip from his tea and, after putting his mug down on the coaster with all the slowness he can muster, goes back to the pieces of map he has laid on the table. They are lots of pieces, and it is the only map he has of the island as a real island and not as a piece of Japan, so he has to be really careful with them! Though it is incomplete, and just as ancient as everything in the house, he had found it ripped up a couple of decades ago and thought that, if it had been ripped up, then it had to have something more than just a map.

So far, he hasn't found anything, but he is working on it.

"Because, if the old Judge found out about them, he would probably burn them." Like he burnt down the Sawada shed, like so many people disappeared through the years. It is just their luck that they have managed to keep this house intact so far, even if no one uses it for anything and no one cares about it. A century, a half and some little more, and no one had bothered to see what was inside the house until they came around? Satoshi wants to claim bullshit, but then this whole town is bullshit. "It is hard to keep secrets in this city, if you hadn't noticed."

"Kokuyo is quite a secret," Gokudera says, looking up from the book and pointing at the map pieces that make up Kokuyo: two or three houses, a few trees, and blankness. The blankness was clearly limited by the island borders, though.

"No? Well, it is the Judge's land; Namimori is the same," and here, Satoshi points at where Namimori would be in the map: a big house on a hill, and a shrine on another hill. That's all, that's Namimori. This map is really incomplete, but it's also really ancient. And ripped up. "They are… just places."

It isn't that people can't walk into Kokuyo, just that outsiders aren't supposed to. Namimori and Midori _are_ the faces of the island to the outside world: there you have trading, education and the community. There is _no_ _need_ for outsiders to walk into Kokuyo, so there is no need for them to remember it. It is such an averagely peaceful place that it is just…

Satoshi shudders. _That_ is definitely not a good place. It is deceptively clean and nice, like Namimori, but it always feels like he is speaking with corpses when speaking with Kokuyo people inside Kokuyo. Smiling, cheery corpses. And then there is the real corpses walking around, but they hide themselves well and if anyone complains against them then they go missing, so what the fuck, it is just like Namimori in that sense. Fucked up people with too many issues and wide smiles.

Except Fuyuka, but then again, Fuyuka has lived a whole lot of time away from Kokuyo.

"So why so much secret?" Gokudera asks again, moving some map pieces around so Midori is all the way to the other side of Namimori and Satoshi wants to stab him, kind of.

If Gokudera didn't look so much like the original owner of this house, the first person who tried to rebel against the stupid Judge, Satoshi is pretty sure he would have stabbed the boy already. Instead, he fixes the map, crosses his fingers below his chin, and starts telling a story. Again. Well, the last time he told this story his sister disappeared (erased), leaving a baby and a distraught boyfriend behind, so what the heck, what is even the right thing to do anymore?

Life. Life is so hard. Life would be easier if their lives weren't a constant survival horror game, but the final boss is _so hard_ to kill.

"Well, there was once a guy called G, who tried to destroy Namimori…"

* * *

**sun of coins**

"Kyoya," Masato says, throwing a final paper into the _out_ pile without looking up at his son. "I don't want you butting into the Sawada case."

Kyoya (dear, sweet son of his world), who had been sitting at the third desk of his office for the first time in years, halts his progress with his own reports. There were a lot of reports, lately, so he had taken to having them delivered here so Tetsuya could sort through them before he came back from patrol. Running a school gang-slash-vigilante group-slash- _voluntary_ law enforcing army is a rough task to assign to a sixteen years old, but Kyoya had always been a little too mature for his age, so Masato had never seen anything wrong with it. Nope, _nothing_.

Silence is not uncommon in their office. Fuyu is quiet most of the time, as it is her belief than making noise will only attract eyes to her, and the secretary rarely comes in as it is; Masato himself doesn't like wasting energy in speaking if he can convey his message otherwise, so they have gotten used to working in a comfortable silence that Kyoya is quite agreeable with. Things get loud when Satoshi or Mei Li drop by, though neither really like being at the office since it is _stuffy_ , or when Kawahira decides to show up.

So silence is not uncommon in their office, but Kyoya's silent tantrums have a clear ringing in their silence (a dark, ominous cloud of 'I'll kill your puppy and your mother if you don't let me get away with what I want') that Masato has trained himself to recognize. He doesn't think there is anyone in Namimori who isn't able to recognize when Kyoya is in a bad mood, or in a mood of any kind; it reminds Masato of his school days, when Michiko was running the very same Disciplinary Committee and people ran from her when she got that _glint_ in her eyes.

"You c-"

"I _can_ tell you what to do, and I will," he continues, still not looking at his furious child (what is this, Iemitsu wants to come back? Well, let him come back, he stamps it with a flourish). He knows that Kyoya doesn't like talking, about anything: Kyoya is tonfa and he lets the tonfa speak for him. Unfortunately for Masato, this means he has never been able to really speak with his son: he is politics and connections, not physical prowess. "You will stay away from this case, or you can go visit your uncle- I will have the paperwork ready for you right away!"

...actually, that's not a bad idea. Kyoya was never meant to live in Namimori to start with, he should not even carry the Hibari name; if anything, Hana should be the one training to take over the city, not _Kyoya_ who was born all the way back in Taiwan or Hong Kong or wherever Mei Li was when she gave birth. Outsiders weren't meant to be heirs to the city, which is why the Sawada had been so quick (in comparison) to give up Hidetada to the Vongola, but then again there was no denying bloodlines or whatever.

If Masato had any say on any of this, he would have shipped both his children far, _far_ _away_ from here and let Namimori die with him, but well, he has _no_ say on any of this. And, Kyoya would kill him if he dared do something as stupid as take him from Namimori, honestly, what? Why is Kyoya so obsessed? The _Sawada_ are supposed to be the Namimori fanatic, not them -well, not so bad, at least.

He is brought out of his thoughts, making his latest paper fly somewhere (it had been a rather sweet letter-slash-report written by the metalsmith on their latest _sales_ to a certain Korean group; yes, Namimori can survive for a new month), when Kyoya slams his tonfa on his desk. The desk breaks easily under Kyoya's weight and strength, making him stumble, and Masato mourns the loss of his desk once again. It was made for _him_ , not for _Kyoya_.

"You cannot tell me that this does _not_ involve me or my people," Kyoya almost growls, saying the most Masato has ever heard him say outside of a meeting in a single sentence. Could it be his son is maturing? _Could it be?_ Is his son finally growing up into a proper leader? "The Sawada are under my wa- why are you crying."

"K-Kyoya is... gro-growing up…," he manages, somehow. He wishes he could be faking it, like he always does, but he is not, he is really proud right now, Kyoya is growing out of his 'everything is useless except my minions and my weapons' phase, maybe there is hope for him yet. Not that it is a bad mentality, but it is so _obviously_ Mei Li and Fon's fault, probably Satoshi's as well, that Masato feels himself a terrible father everytime he sees his son beating people in the name of the law. The only thing they share nowadays are their naps, and not even that!

He hears Fuyuka groan and maybe facepalm, yelling something that sounds both chastising and amused at Kyoya, who is probably horrified at seeing his _father_ cry. Not that Masato blames him, the last time Kyoya had to deal with anything related to emotions was probably a long while ago. In order to not mortify his son anymore, he wipes his face and forces himself to stop crying, looking at his scattered papers to sober himself up.

"...Sawada Hidetada is one of my best officers," Kyoya says when Masato looks back up at him, not crying now, resuming their conversation as if nothing had happened. He looks troubled, like he doesn't really want to speak, and his voice is low. Masato has to strain his ears to listen (so does Fuyuka, who is probably recording this moment for posterity's sake). "And Sawada Tsunayoshi was promised to me as beacon. The Sawada are under my watch and protection, as is Fuuta della Stella, who I personally put in their hands. You _cannot_ keep me or my people from this case."

Halt. Did Kyoya just speak so much? At a time, too! He is really growing up. Maybe in a few years he will be speaking as much as a regular human being and-

Rewind! Did Kyoya just admit someone _worthy_ of his praise? He didn't think that would happen again, not since… ages ago. When he graduated high school, two-year-and-some old Kyoya had patted his head and taken his glasses with a giggle; that was literally the _only_ time Kyoya had outwardly shown he was pleased with his father. _Fourteen years ago!_ And now he can admit Hidetada is one of his _best officers_?

Why, he feels like crying again. Everything else, he knew already: Iemitsu had promised he wouldn't take Tsunayoshi away from Namimori no matter what (and Tsunayoshi had next to no drive to leave the city on his own), so he was definitely the barrier beacon when Sawada Ietsuna passed away (and, shit, he is _still_ dying, isn't he?); Fuuta had gone through the usual means to get here and to the Sawada, so Masato had given him to Kyoya that day so he could pass him over. Yes, okay, he can see why the Sawada are under Kyoya's protection.

He sighs. What would _his_ parents do? Besides order everyone silenced and everything kept under wraps, which is not the proper course of actions, they would probably consult the Seer, but there is _no_ Seer; Kawahira hasn't given a single word of advice in this case out of mutual hatred for each other and even if he was useful once in his life, Masato trusts him about as far as he can throw him. His friends? Satoshi is conspiring, Tsuyoshi and Natsumi are combing the island for clues and finding _nothing_ , and Fuyuka is probably over there laughing at how he is falling asleep.

He snaps awake and, after thinking about it for some seconds and mourning for his desk (his desk, which he bought, for his job), holds out one of his bracelets to Kyoya. He _really_ can't stop the destructive force that is his son when he is set on something, and he is quite stubborn. Since he can't stop him, better keep an eye on him? Maybe

"I can't, no," he says, trying to remember where he left the tracker for that particular bracelet. Maybe he should put a tracking chip _in_ Kyoya, so it will be easier on his mind, but Kyoya wouldn't allow that. "But the Judge can, specially since Kokuyo is his terrible land of puppets and smiles. If you want to pry -if _any_ of you wants to- then you need to be careful and know when to pull back, because it would be really sad if we lost more people-"

"I will bite him to death," Kyoya says, tying the bracelet around his wrist; while Masato understands his sentiment completely, he has to shake his head. _No_.

"As much as I hate Kawahira, remember he was old and dusty when _Ietsuna_ -sama was a boy. Unfortunately, he is doing all he can to sabotage our investigation, because it 'is not time yet'," he makes a quote sign in the air, then reaches for one of his papers- no, not this one, he doesn't need this one, so he throws it away. "I have a report around here, which I would find if you hadn't broken my desk, but basically he keeps making Tsuyoshi go circles and Natsumi's seeing-eye always gets distracted by something- ah, and there have been mentions of giant beasts rising from the shadows and basically all kind of stupid things Kawahira likes, Kyoya, my report is missing, this is your fault-"

"Your desk should be of an sturdier material."

"I don't have the _money_ for that, Kyoya!" He whines, throwing another report at his son's face before rethinking about what he said. "Actually, do we?"

He looks over at Fuyu, who shrugs and throws a copy of Tsuyoshi's report at Kyoya.

* * *

**mist of coins**

The elevator is slow, but it has always had a steady music that calms her down whenever she needs to go down to the basement. A music so low and ominous it feels like she is descending into the very depths of hell. Maybe, she is, considering where she is. The basement of Namimori hospital is… rather weird.

The door opens with a _ding_ , and she steps out, brushing invisible dust off her white coat. Any other day she wouldn't worry about if her clothes are dirty, clean, covered in unknown fluids and what not; she doesn't care about that. But today she is meeting an important man -the only man in her life!

"Master Judge," she greets, bowing to the man in front of her. With his crown of flowers and colorful mask, he doesn't look much like a figure of authority, but he is definitely an important man. "Sawada Ietsuna will not live much longer."

"So I saw," the Judge says, with a sing-song tone to his voice that Michiko loves. "You have done well, Sasagawa Michiko- _san_."

"I do what I can for the peace of Namimori."

Sasagawa Michiko is her name. She is a nurse, married to a man whose name she forgets when she gets to work, with two children she loves with all her heart. People would call her stupid, others would call her hardworking and diligent. She believes herself to be a true follower.

"Namimori thanks you for your hard work, like always."

Mister K takes her hand in his to kiss it, and she giggles. This old, old man has been the light of her life since ages ago, and she will continue to be so. Even if at times her orders are… questionable, she has learned that there is no best way to maintain the peace everyone worked so hard for than to follow the Judge's command.

Still, she has to wonder what did Sawada Ietsuna did to merit being m- erased. She knows the Sawada are quite important for whatever supernatural business is going on behind the city (some sort of human sacrifice?), but then, shouldn't having more of them be better?

She doesn't know. As of now, she will pretend she doesn't care.

"I have noticed," the Judge is saying, "that the Mist screen around Hidetada's memories is starting to weaken."

Ah. Her one failure. Mister K is already gathering his own Misty flames on his palm, and she smiles.

"He is quite strong," she says, reaching for the gathered flames with her own. "He may need to come in for treatment again."

"Let's hope Ines's mosquito of a disciple doesn't interfere again, shall we?"

"Yes, Master Judge." She ignores the pain in her heart at the mention of the handsome man. He is quite charming, but if he interferes, then she doesn't know what will happen to him.

"And, Michiko- _san_."

"Yes?"

"I have heard that Takeda- _san_ may not have much left to live."

"Yes, Master Judge."

She ignores, too, that Keiko is her friend and neighbour, that they have spent long hours laughing over tea with Nana, that they were school classmates. She ignores all this, and steels her heart.

She is but a faceless member of the community, and this is her duty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For shame, Desert Bl- I mean, Kokuyo. For shame.
> 
> This was supposed to come up yesterday but it was storming. Now that we are PAST THE DAILY LIFE ARC (amazing) and I can drop the worldbuilding (except Kokuyo, but the Kokuyo gang can do that), our POV will be limited to ACTUAL MAIN CHARACTERS (so, Tsuna/Fuuta, team Vongola and maybe one Kokuyo), with occasional interludes from other people for background events. So, basically the same, but hopefully more cohesive.
> 
> Looks at notes. So much to go... Kokuyo is short as an arc, but since we are seeing the hostage side it will probably get longer... Ugh, so much to go, night flames are so important...
> 
> Stares at the length of everything in this chapter. Stares at the length of _sun of coins_. What the actual fuck. Masato is not a character I will ever use for exposition. ever. again. Holy shit. It was supposed to be a short conversation, not a ramble. Also, it is sad how he tries to not be a little shit to his children and it doesn't work. Also all these OCs are made for the sole purpose of maybe dying. Terribly. Sadly. Family drama.
> 
> Hana is a Hibari? What? So much _drama_ , my god, I should write soap operas.
> 
> Swords are Vongola, Wands are the tutors (and Kyoko, but her episode was going to be Daemon's until I realized she also fit wands a lot), Coins are true Namimoris, Goblets (aka Cups, but goblets don't have handles) are Millefiore, with their word order in reverse because their Arcana meanings are reversed. But what does this mean? As of this point, nothing.


	13. cŵn annwn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wild Hunt begins, but only one side is aware it is on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNINGS:** Torture, plot, Kokuyo, things that don't seem to be in coherent order but actually are… You know, the usual. Also, I'm complete MukuTsuna trash. You have been warned.

* * *

**KOKUYO DAYS**

* * *

**001**

**Three knights on wait**

The wake is a quiet affair, only for close family (none), friends (very little) and acquaintances (the neighbourhood). Takeda Keiko was a lonely woman, who only ever spent time with her friends and her dog, and who never liked _wasting time_ socializing when she could be doing something else.

Hide and Mamma stand at the back of the mourning neighbours with their family. None of the wake-goers has shown signs of missing Tsuna's or Fuuta's presence, and Lambo had already kicked at some of the children who dared sneer at the the obvious lack of both ten years old. I-pin, in Bianchi's arms, had wanted to join, but she had decided it was better to just stay quiet. Reborn had vanished short hours ago, heading back to his temporary quarters wherever he was staying, and Hide hadn't complained.

"You may leave, if you want," says his mother, adjusting her hat to further cover her eyes. "We will head back to the Kusakabe's now."

Hide nods, with no need for words. He leaves the room, standing as straight as he can with Giotto's weighing on his back like heavy _burning_ lead, and steps into the street with his path clear. Half a step behind, Gokudera joins him from his previous spot by the door, and together they make the way to Takesushi in complete silence.

He feels numb. He isn't sure if it is because of Giotto's influence or because he himself is completely void of anything right now, but he feels numb. Not that that will stop him from doing what he has to do, anyways; though they are banned from looking, that doesn't mean they are banned from asking around. Not that people are really useful sources of information, in this city.

"Welcome back," says Takeshi, closing the door behind them. Hide slumps on a chair, too tired to move, and lets Giotto slump with him like a too-warm ghostly blanket. Since no one is home right now, he has been staying at the Yamamoto's for a while and, well, it hasn't been comfortable at all. "Sorry I couldn't go."

Takeshi looks... tired. No longer the usually cheerful boy Hide used to know, but a fake man with too little sleep and weary steps. There are dark bags around his eyes that mirror those of his father's and, while one of them is still going out and doing things, Takeshi is stuck indoors under house arrest. His sword (a new one, a _real_ one) is back to not leaving his side, strapped to his back like it belonged there -which he guesses, it does, as it is the Asari heirloom.

The table he is sitting at is littered with papers and half-written reports that Gokudera immediately latches on. Why does Yamamoto Tsuyoshi insist on leaving them information just laying around when he is all about ' _everything is law and peace and Namimori_ ', Hide doesn't know; it may be some weird sense of father responsability that tells him he has to help his son and his friends to get through this, but Hide doubts it. Maybe Yamamoto senior just keeps forgetting where he leaves his reports, which wouldn't surprise either Takeshi or Hide at all.

Takeshi joins them at the table, dropping two small glowing blue stones on it before snatching a paper from Gokudera and reading it out loud. They quickly dissolve into a verbal fight that is mostly anger and frustration and no teasing at all, and Hide sighs into his hands. Giotto, if possible, grows even more _euphoric_ of everything around him, which pulls Hide along into a weird state of empathy-induced highness that he has felt a few times before. Ridiculous.

He picks up one of the papers and holds it up so Giotto, wherever his eyes are, can read it as well. _Unexplainable disappearance of shoes near the premises of Kokuyoland, only to find them again hung from wirelines in Kokuyo's northern area; hung from a cat's guts, that is, along with the cat itself, which was barely clinging to life even with its inside pulled out from its jaw (no, we don't know how they did it, but the cat was alive- it is still alive, and it is staring at me-_

Hide puts the report, facedown, back on the table and takes a deep breath. _Fuck this city_ , what the heck, why is everything so weird.

"Did you reach the part where they _unexplainably_ trip in the road, only to find themselves in the river for some _mysterious_ reason?" Takeshi looks at him, a glint in his eyes, picking up a random sheet from the table and turning it around. He grins and shows it to them: it is a photo, in sepia scale, of a boy with a beanie hat fending off a fish. "Or the part where they found a box with photos, but when they tried to take it they _burst into tears_ and got ruined by the water?"

"Gods, Kokuyo, why are you so _impossible_ ," is Hide's only response, as he bangs his forehead against the table a few times. Giotto, in his _impossible_ wisdom, just drops a warm something on his head and ruffles his hair; it smells of caramel and ghost, which is _normal_ , unlike _crying photographs_ , fuck Kokuyo.

"No, according to this, that happened in Namimori," counter Hayato, pointing at another report sheet on the table. Which... doesn't surprise Hide at all, considering that Namimori is the town of the weird and the weirder, but _still_. "Oh, listen, listen. _Two unmoving human shapes were seen through Midori security camera system all through Wednesday to Friday. The same three days, Midori and Yumei students reported_ supernatural phenomena _around the town, and one Midori student was sent back home in tears after she_ allegedly _saw a faceless man with a bird-like hat_. Sounds like bullshit to me."

"Supernaturals in Midori? What?" Even Takeshi looks surprised, but then he goes back to looking for weird stories in the pile of supposedly real reports by the LN and associates. " _Witnesses claim dragons were eating their flowers-_ "

"Next."

" _Vanishing store's door now appearing two days of the week-_ well that could be useful-"

"No, next."

" _Black hole in the sky-_ Who _writes_ these things?" He laughs, loudly, and takes back his stones from the table. "I will go make some tea, want some?"

"Sure." "Yeah, thanks idiot."

* * *

**002**

**Prince(s)**

Things aren't okay.

It has been days since he woke up here, with Fuuta at his side. _Days_ , yet no matter how much he continues calling no one comes. No Daemon, no Hide; he feels so empty, like he is slowly giving up into what he would have been had he not have someone else, except he _does_ have someone else. He has Fuuta, Fuuta who he has to protect, Fuuta-

"Let's try this again, then."

Tsuna cries out, in pain. It has been days, and while their treatment hasn't been the worst, it hasn't been the best either. His injuries are still _there_ , his bruises are still quite purple because they don't heal if time won't move (time stopped for him so long ago), and his mind feels jagged and torn in places it shouldn't be touched.

Still, he can't give up. He has to protect Fuuta, Fuuta who has done his best to keep quiet all this time, Fuuta who hasn't said a word, Fuuta-

Tsuna's head is pulled back, a claw pressed against his neck, and he struggles to reach the ground with his feet. He closes his eyes, doing his best to ignore the pain ( _never let your fear show in a dangerous situation_ , Daemon said, his ghostly fingers spread on the school's keyboard with the grace of fifteen decades without playing, _for it will give your opponents more weapons against you_ ), and raises his hand to hold the boy's own wrist. Maybe if he has enough leverage, maybe if he was healthy, maybe, maybe; useless.

He _feels_ in his mind, himself, the broken connection to both Daemon and his life support growing farther and farther. He doesn't know how, but it is as if… as if something that was there, already, was simply being awoken to continue its job. Daemon, shoved somewhere _far away_. His pacifier, in his bag he can't reach because he is hanging from his neck, with a claw that can kill him next to his arteries, and he has never felt more scared in his life.

He thought, he thought that allowing Daemon -the sad, mad, loathing mess he met the first time, unable to comprehend even the basics of human interaction- into his head had been the scariest thing he had ever done, but he had been wrong. Then, he thought about his meeting with Byakuran, when his life had hung from a thread in his friend's hands, but that was wrong too. He thought of the loud sound of a gun firing, the murderous rabid animal dying from a single shot, and the building burning for long hours afterwards, how scared he felt they would be found out, but not that either.

Here, with his brother in danger and his life plainly exposed to an enemy, this is the worst situation he has ever found himself in and _he can't do anything_. He is so _weak_ and useless, he lived through hell and heaven, and he can't save his brother from seeing him this way. He stayed alive past visions, past everything, and yet he can't do anything except...

He coughs. The hand tightens around him and he coughs again. His vision is growing fainter, blurrier, and he can't hear what the bright, bright and crazy boy is saying, but he knows it is something not good for him.

Fuuta's eyes are wide, his nails bitten through. The book lays behind him, closed and locked ( _this is a Flame lock_ , their ghost tutor spoke. _It will only open in exposure to your Flames, or those of someone you trust_ ), and his small body sits before it in its last form of defense. That stupid book that Tsuna wants nothing to do with, the book that all the Mafia would do anything for, the book they have been kidnapped for.

"Now, then," the man, Rokudo Mukuro -Shiraishi Kaiji-, speaks. His voice is smooth and pretends to not mean harm ( _these are the kind of people you must fear_ ), but Tsuna feels something wrong and _dangerous_ from him. Something completely broken. Much like the black, writhing ball of Flames that used to be Daemon, but worse, unhealable, something he can't approach or he will get more tainted than he already is. "If you don't want your _brother_ to be hurt, you will tell us what we want to know. Won't you, _Fuuta della Stella_?"

Again, Fuuta shakes his head. It is the… seventh, or eighth time, every time the same: he will shake his head and Mukuro will ask again, and Fuuta will refuse again, and Mukuro will ask again. Again, and again, and again.

Except there is something different, this time. A new person, who Tsuna can barely see past his hazy sight. Black hair, maybe; a hat, maybe; Kokuyo uniform, maybe. A thin, shining needle in his hand, and Tsuna remembers it from back when they were kidnapped ( _run, you two, ru-_ before blood dripped down her throat, a shiny pointy end piercing her skin red _red_ ). The boy, with the poisons, that boy.

"Disappointing," the boy says and he lifts his hand, with the needle, with the poisons, and a second later Tsuna stops struggling. The pain, white hot searing pain, from his leg, he can't feel _anything_ but pain and it is making him _slowly fade away_. "It would be your best interest to speak."

He can't see Fuuta anymore, but Tsuna knows he is doubting. Giving up. Tsuna is, too, but if they give up then what will happen? _What will happen to them_? The pain is so great, from his leg and up his gut, his lungs, his heart, and he can feel them dropping all function like they do when his pacifier is too, too far because _he is going to die_ , like this?

No, he can't die, the causal loop won't allow that. Fuuta knows that, as well, but then what happens if he really dies? Will the causal loop be broken- can it _be_ broken? Who is that screaming? It is a terrible scream, desperate, high pitched, like someone being tortu- it is him.

It is Tsuna.

He doesn't really remember what he sounds like, screaming. At least, not like this. This is not- it barely sounds human, and he can't feel his lungs, so it is impossible it is him? Except the bright, midday sun boy is covering his mouth with his other hand, his heart beating at a rate too fast to be human (like a little bunny, it is cute), and it goes silent in time for Tsuna to hear Fuuta:

"...-O IT, JUST HEAL HIM!"

His voice sounds hoarse. Maybe he has been screaming for a while, too, and Tsuna sobs in relief when he feels something go past his mouth and down his throat, cold, so cold, which immediately starts easing the pain. If anything, he is amazed at the skills of their poison master, from somewhere far and disconnected from his body (so, technically Daemon). He still can't see, and still can't really move, so he slumps in the bright boy's hold waiting for whatever is going to happen.

He feels the field go up, along with his hair, his clothes and probably the people's as well. He is already off ground, so he doesn't float, but the animalistic boy does, letting out a _woa!_ of amazement as he brings Tsuna closer to his chest. Good, comfortable; the claw is still threatening to behead him, but he isn't dying of poison or being held dangerously by his throat.

" _Ranking for the Strongest of Namimori Middle High School_ ," Fuuta starts, probably also somewhere far away. " _Number one, Hibari Kyouya_ -," and there was no doubt there, seeing who it is, so it is okay; there is a shuffling of papers and Mukuro -Kaiji- _hm_ 's along to whatever the needle boy said. " _Number two, Yamamoto Takeshi-,_ " which was also expected, considering who he is, and Tsuna shudders and closes his eyes tightly. For some reason, the sunny boy tightens his hold on him, and while he is not pleased, he is thankful.

" _Third place, Sawada Hidetada_ -," there it is, his confirmation which makes his eyes snap open -the world is still a hazy, hazy mess of yellow and _blueblueblue_ and all Tsuna can do is feel his heart halt at the lack of orange (where are they?). " _Fourth place, Gokudera Hayato-,"_ which doesn't matter, because Tsuna's heart is skipping beats and his eyes are tearing up; he can't _feel_ Hide or even his own pacifier for some reason, and his connection with Daemon has almost completely rotted away. He is drowning, drowning in something else, something stronger that he doesn't know or understand.

 _"Fifth place, Kusakabe Tetsuya-,"_ doesn't matter, he isn't even listening right now even if the sunny boy and the poison master are so attentive, he has to get out of this _mist_ that isn't Daemon, that isn't him, that isn't what he know. His breath hitches in one final attempt to get free from the boy, who is still holding him awfully close, but a shudder runs through his neck and back. He looks up, weakly (there is still a claw against his neck, he is still in danger, and he is still _drowning_ ); Mukuro is looking straight at him, at _him_ and he cries out; his red eye is like Daemon's, like a void of _mist chaos blood destruction Hell Hell Hell_ -

" _Sixth place, Sasagawa Ryohei-,"_ yet the voice comes from far away, Fuuta's voice faded in the distance.

He has to look through the mist for his life support charm in his bag, reacting to his distress, and without worrying for consequences ( _this is your last resource and your last line of defense_ ), he _locks his mind away_. All fight leaves his body as something slips into him, his thoughts, wrapping around and clouding his self and what identifies as Tsuna. He wants to scream. Maybe he _is_ screaming again.

" _Seventh place, Mochi-_ "

He doesn't know. He doesn't care. He isn't him anymore.

The world goes dark.

* * *

**003**

**Joker**

_"Hell Wanderer, Rokudo Mukuro."_

_His eyes open into a familiar landscape -or_ mindscape _, as it is more appropriate. He has seen this before, somewhere, but for all his memories he can't remember_ where _. Sometime long past, in an ancient time, when he was… someone, someone who was betrayed deeply, killed and left with a void that could only be filled with remorse. What was their name? No, he can't remember, he can't ever remember._

 _A stone slab stands in the middle of a fountain, surrounded by four figures. Or well, he can_ see _four, but he can feel more. Way more. Some far away, but not too far; some close enough to touch. He can't make heads or tails of their presences, but they are there, quite present; one stands close to him, shivering, and all his dreamself wants to do is reach for it and comfort it but no, no, he can't do that, not now._

_His body moves on its own._

_In his finger, he sees a black ring: a round obsidian that seems to absorb all light around it. On his other hand, his fingers hold a round something, glowing in indigo. He can't focus his eyes on it. He tries, but he can't. Round, indigo, alternating between washed out and too dark. Cracks, maybe it will break, but he can't focus his eyes on it. It is just in his hand, comfortable like it belong there, like it had been there for ages._

_"_ Oya, oya, _" his voice says as his body sits on its own volition next to the figure with green glowing nails (its fingers spark with electricity which crackles and caresses his side like an old friend, old in somewhere else and old in here, he doesn't understand. It reeks of sweet). "For us to be called so suddenly, I am curious as to what you may want, my dear-"_

 _He_ voices _a name, but he cannot hear it. It is garbled and distorted, like something coming out of a terrible radio station. Everyone else seems to understand, for the figure with the orange eye (just one, he notices. It has one eye) shifts, letting its cloak further shadow its face. Regal, small. A child ruler._

_"Do not speak my name so easily, if you will. You never know who may be listening."_

_The speech is refined, delicate: like an aristocrat. There is a cane lying on what he guesses are its legs, a great stone in one end and carved from head to tip, where it is thin enough it looks like it will break at a touch. Its hands rest on the cane, pale and full of scars, fingers long and calloused. An assortment of rings decorate its fingers; he recognizes the black one as the same he wears._

_"But," the distortion for the name is still there, it seems. The one who speaks is the one with stars for its eyes (bright, glowing, impossible to look at. He tries, fails and sees everyone else also evading this one's gaze). "You did call us quite suddenly. Did something happen?"_

_"The Vongola," he hears, this time from the particularly quiet figure with the violet hat, "have decided to take drastic measures."_

_And even if he wanted to watch more, he can't. The round item falls from his hand and for a split second it glows and cracks, and then he falls back._

_He is falling._

* * *

"Mukuro- _sama_ ," Chikusa is in front of him, his hand held warily above his shoulder. It is the loudest and most troubled he has heard him be, and even then, not really. Chikusa _never_ leaves his constant monotone, not even when he is panicking and disappears for days.

He is lying on the floor, he realizes. How disgraceful, for him to be on the floor. He feels drained, tired, his mind a little scrambled from what he was doing. What was he- oh. Tsunayoshi, the boy they had taken along with Ranking Fuuta. Clearly more than just a child, it would seem, if the energy it took to break into his mind was telling.

It had been an adventure. It wasn't only guarded, it was literally barricaded. He had been attacked from all sides when he had broken in, with all kind of stimuli he doesn't believe a child is able to conjure on his own. A sea of hatred, arrows of despair; and then, he was surrounded by _black_. Only black, like the night, where there was nothing except his own thoughts and a door that didn't seem to lead anywhere.

And then he had stepped into a vision (he refuses to call it a mere _dream_ ), of whatever kind it was. Well, he will have the boy in his hands for a while, he can investigate in due time. First, their mission is Vongola Decimo. If Tsunayoshi is useful later, then he can use him later.

Mukuro sits up, Chikusa helping him by holding onto his back. He wants to wave him away, but he feels _unusually_ weak. So, he lets his minion have his peace by allowing him to support him. While straightening his thoughts from the twisted lines they are right now, he takes a quick sweep around the room.

Ranking Fuuta is asleep, curled up atop his book. He is troubled, even in his sleep, his nose scrunching up and hands twitching besides the book. There is a small paper next to him where he recorded his ranking (Fuuta's backup original and Chikusa's copy will be more than enough. He doesn't need to get past the troublesome lock in the book now) and his pen (with little golden stars and silver moons) has rolled away in his sleep.

He doesn't _need_ Ranking Fuuta anymore, but for some reason he can't stand the thought of letting him leave. Tsunayoshi will cooperate more if he keeps them both in one room, but the extra expenses are _so much_... Thank the Hells Kokuyo is cheap, he doesn't want to spend much in another mouth to feed. He will have to ask Chikusa to re-do their budget for the next weeks, he doesn't want to think right now.

M.M. has Chikusa's notebook, going through what he guesses is the ranking with a highlighter. He hates the things, they are _too_ bright for his eye, but he will allow it for now; she wasn't here before, so he guesses she got here after he passed out (how embarrassing). Her skirt is riding unusually high from where she is kicking at Tsunayoshi's bag. Speaking of the bag, the contents have spilled: a book wrapped in mist and an orange stone. He will go through that later (he _is_ curious), note that up.

He adds it to his mental checklist, and continues on.

Lancia is kneeling next to a passed-out Tsunayoshi, checking on him. It has been days, and though Ken's threatening didn't hurt him too much, it took Chikusa coming out from hiding to get the boys to break. He hopes the poison and trauma will not leave lasting effects, children are still children, and really, it was only for a few seconds. Like half a minute? The Strongest Man in Northern Italy's hands are brushing past the boy's hair, feeling for a fever, pressing weakly against his chest. It is a funny sight, with Lancia being huge and Tsunayoshi being the smallest nine? ten? years old Mukuro has ever seen (and they were pretty small); Mukuro wants to laugh, but then he notices Tsunayoshi's arm.

Ken has bandaged Tsuna's arm, it would seem. He is very silent, completely focused, with bandages around him and a small pot of burn ointment by his hand. They keep the thing around because M.M. likes playing with fire, but they haven't gotten any serious burns since... years ago. Ken is currently applying the ointment to the boy's small hand, where he can see the trace of faint burns. Poison doesn't burn and neither does the antidote, and Ken doesn't do fire as much as claw things out of people without care, so _what happened_?

He must have asked it out loud, because Ken looks up at him with eyes wide, like a deer in the headlights, and even Lancia looks up from his task for half a second before going back to throwing blanket after blanket on both Tsunayoshi and Fuuta's small forms. M.M. snorts, since she always thought their wired immediate response was ridiculous, but then Chikusa is reaching to hold his hand.

"His hand suddenly burst into flames," Chikusa says, quietly, tracing a line from Mukuro's thumb to his wrist, and up his arm. Mukuro quickly looks away from Tsunayoshi and at his oldest minion, questioning, already wanting to take back his hand, but he can't do that because then Chikusa will go into hiding again. "Out of nowhere. He passed out two, three seconds later -as did you, Mukuro- _sama_ -, but the damage was already done."

Mukuro hums to himself, rubbing his fingers when Chikusa releases his hand and goes to whatever spot he was using to observe today. So it was probably a reaction to the intrusion, not just spontaneous, which is... disappointing. But also intriguing, because that means Tsunayoshi realized he was breaking into his mind and that means he can be an useful pawn.

Well, everyone and everything seems to be okay for now. Ken is done, so he asks (orders) him to go get them dinner, not mice and not dead wild animals, please. When he is gone and M.M. has disappeared somewhere else, Mukuro drops next to Lancia and pulls his two hostages closer to himself.

"I'm napping for a while," he says. Then, as an afterthought, he points at Tsunayoshi's bag. "Bring that closer and nap with us."

The mist-covered book is dropped on Fuuta's ranking book, and the orange stone ( _pacifier_ , he realizes with glee and something like familiarity and nostalgia in the back of his mind, _it is a pacifier_ ) is shoved into Tsunayoshi's hands. Lancia sits at their heads, already drifting away, and Mukuro lets himself have a small moment of peace (really small) knowing Chikusa is watching from somewhere and, soon, he will have Vongola Decimo in his hands.

And then, he can begin destroying everything that destroyed them first.

* * *

**mist interlude**

**disease**

It has been almost a year and he has figured out some things. Or rather, had them shoved into his face and forced to accept them without a chance to protest or even deny the situation that was simply so _illogical_ even in the Mafia world, he has come to accept them as facts. So, he says he has _figured_ them out, because it makes him sound like he is in control of the situation -which he is not.

Namimori is a weird shit city and it should vanish into the depths of Hell itself. That's what he has figured out, pretty much; everything he has come to learn about Namimori can be summed up in that sentence. And then some.

Oh, he isn't worried about the disappearances, or the apparent inherent forgetfulness of everyone in town. Even the subtle, constant illusion attacks to his psyche that keeps trying to throw him off track has been accepted, pretty well. He is a Mist user; he can protect his own mind, thank you, which doesn't mean he considers them acceptable practices, no. Whoever is acting behind the scenes is scum of society, all the way down there with the Vindice, and Shamal has already promised himself that if he ever meets the man, he will shout a few words at his face.

He will probably die, too, but he will die with no regrets if he can insult the douchebagin the face. Maybe he will have some regrets if he dies without meeting his Madonna, though, but that... he has given up on that, sort of.

While he isn't very worried about the clusterfuck of disastrous events that is Namimori, he is pretty worried about something else. And so is Bianchi, which makes Shamal doubly worried; he will triple his worry when Reborn starts worrying, as well, but for now he can doubly worry about it on his own. The thing is, he doesn't think Reborn would _ever_ notice, because Reborn is an Arcobaleno and thus his flames cannot go out of control or simply weaken without reason at all.

He had thought it was an illness, at first. He had done some tests on himself, but there was nothing physically wrong with him besides the usual (no disease 667, though he doesn't doubt it can show up someday), which at first had been unconceivable. He couldn't _control_ his Flames, his own life force, as well as he usually did, that _must_ mean there is some physical ailment, right?

There was none, and Shamal had had to learn to adapt. His mosquitoes flew weird, but it was the same as always past that. It had been like that first time he had contracted Hyperfiamma, until it was not.

He can deal with uncontrolled flames. What he can't deal with is _losing_ Flames, which is something he had never even heard could happen asides from Hypofiamma, but then that was a sudden fast drop in energy that _came back_ after a few days (if you were alive, that is). Yet it was, it was happening without anything prompting it, and after a few months the energy drop had been too much to keep it casually hidden from Reborn. It was small but steady loss, like a water container that loses a single drop every hour: you don't notice it at all until, years later, the loss is so great you start asking yourself, where did it go?

So, where were the Flames going?

He is musing on this when he suddenly finds himself holding on to a girl's wrist, keeping her from falling. She looks all distraught and darling, and Shamal smiles.

"My apologies, young one, I wasn't looking where I was going," he says, helping the girl up before reaching down to pick up the things she dropped. Dangerous chemicals, more dangerous chemicals, and a dark bottle with something moving inside. He piles the chemicals bottles back on the basket, ignoring her protests. "You should be more careful with these."

"I'm usually not so clumsy," she says, taking back the basket and the small bottle in her hands, twisting it in her fingers. Then she looks up at him and her eyes widen. "Ah, you are our school doctor, Shamal- _sensei_. Thank you very much."

"It is nothing to thank me for." He decided he will not worry about what the people of Namimori get up to when no one watches. If the girl wants to play with acids, then let her; besides, he remembers Hayato complaining about how his school club was basically all explosions. "You are a member of the chemistry club?"

"I am." She nods and, after a few seconds of looking troubled and thoughtful, lifts up the dark bottle for Shamal to take. So, he does, though he doesn't know what could be useful about the bottle. "I will give you this since you look sick, please don't mention my basket?"

Shamal nods. "Don't worry, I will not mention your ammonia and formaldehyde, or thallium, or your hydrofluor-"

"AAH!"

He grins at her frantic looking around. She is _adorable_ , even if she is carrying highly toxic and corrosive chemicals all close to each other in a closed space. Like a squirrel, maybe, or an otter: small, picky and fickle about things except one single objective.

She is _adorable_ , but not pretty, no; more like a rough beauty, all sharp lines and practical ease that Shamal always sees in fighter women. He doubts anyone in Namimori could truly develop the kind of delicate prettiness that people believe to be _traditional beauty_ , since everyone in Namimori is either constantly on guard of everything or constantly ignoring everything there is to be on guard about.

"Takemi!"

She yelps and brings her basket closer to her, and then looks up at Shamal again. "Sorry, _sensei_. It is a secret, okay?"

She is gone before he has time to nod and he feels so _confused_ by the whole thing, he doesn't care that a middle school girl just asked him to keep a life-changing (for him) secret for her. So maybe some of those chemicals were a little more dangerous than he should have allowed a fifteen years old to get away with, but well, he did sort of raise Hayato.

Well, she is in the chemistry club, he can drop by and ask her what's up if he ever feels like it. Not that he will, but maybe one day?

Shamal dares not continue his stroll, today. One life-changing event a day is all he needs and can deal with, anyways, so he turns around to head back to his apartment. Maybe Reborn will be there with _real food_ , but he doubts it, so he prepares himself to another night of instant noodles and cold soup, and maybe a drink or two. Who knows, maybe he will have a sudden epiphany as to where the flames are going.

Not letting his thoughts trouble him, he opens the tinted glass bottle and drops whatever it is holding on his palm. A small black stone looks back at him, shining dark blue when the light hits it. And then lighter. And lighter blue, until he is left staring at a clearly indigo-colored pebble.

Well, then.

It is time to do some research.

* * *

**004**

**24-20**

_Shit_.

Five faceless members of- no, three trained members of the DC, one almost-civilian and a trained martial artist, taken out through the night by what. A mysterious dog and a sniper? Who would believe that, there is no way that is believable. Not even in Namimori, town of the weird and the weirder, where weird things sprout like wildflowers under the rain.

Beaten up bodies also sprout like wildflowers, but not five in a single night, and not in plain sight either. This looks like a sudden assault, but it was too methodical for that, like it was pre-planned and whoever did it had walked the route of the DC patrols enough times to know what to encounter. Also, it was done in less than an hour, which is a feat on and by itself; lightning fast, from one corner of town to the other, leaving the children not only unconscious, but in a bad enough condition they will not get up easily in a few _weeks_.

"Tsuyoshi~ What is this in my hand?"

Natsumi holds up her hand from where she is kneeling next to the badly beaten almost-civilian boy (had the DC member been defending him?). Her dog pack is looking around the area for clues, so Tsuyoshi has resigned himself to being her guide for the moment, which doesn't mean he likes it. Shiraishi Natsumi is as crazy as everyone else in this city, but at least she doesn't pretend.

Tsuyoshi sighs. _Peaceful and normal. Peaceful and normal. Nothing wrong here_. Unbreakable number four repeats in his head like a mantra for a short few seconds, until he feels his sense of reality come back. Only then can he look at Natsumi's hand, where there is a little, white and bloody bone that he doesn't know how is she not disgusted by. Probably because she can't see it.

"That's a tooth." And not only one, too. He is counting at least more than twenty, _way_ more than twenty. He doubts prosthesis alone will be able to put these children's teeth back together, but well, they can try? "Don't touch it, it is evidence."

"Right, Fuyuka will get mad," she says, and just drops the tooth like it wasn't _evidence_ _of two children being almost murdered in broad daylight_. Tsuyoshi wants to scream, but then repeats unbreakable number four to himself once again and helps the blind woman up. "It really smells like wild animal, though. Wild, but well cared for."

"I'm sure we will figure out something."

* * *

Naito Longchamp appears at Takesushi past ten in the evening, pale and trembling. He is alone, which is the only reason why Takeshi lets him inside (things are _dangerous_ past certain hours in Namimori, which is why noise curfew is always active) so late at night. Longchamp is lucky that Hide is still awake and thus didn't get woken up by the knocking, because if he had then Takeshi would have _killed_ him.

Gokudera is also crashing in his house tonight, so maybe they can have a party? Haha, yeah, as if, noise curfew. Instead, he leads Longchamp in and sits him in front of Hide, besides Gokudera, while Takeshi himself sits at the counter.

"Lunga was attacked."

The declaration is quiet, yet in the impossible silence of the room it is loud like a gunshot. Hide jerks back in silence and Gokudera swears to himself, but Longchamp just... sits there, looking on blankly at the wall like it is the only thing that matters. Maybe it is, maybe he is just too lost in thought to look somewhere else.

"Is it serious?" Takeshi asks, since you know, when someone gets attacked you have to ask two things: are they okay, and if there are any leads. Not that leads lead anywhere in this town, but his father always said it was best to _know_ where your enemies hide (before claiming loudly that there is no such thing as enemies in Namimori, because everything is _peaceful_ ).

Longchamp shakes his head. "He is in the hospital, with... four, other people who also go- got attacked."

"Five people in a single night is a little too much," says Gokudera, leaning back on the chair and covering his face with one of the papers on the table. "Do you think it could be the mafia?"

"Well, Lunga is quite disliked by our enemies." The _other_ future mafia boss, that is not Hide, leans his head on the table and just... lays there. Looking like a corpse, or something, disheartened and quite tired. Hide pats his shoulder. "But no one knows we are in Namimori."

"Then, maybe-"

The door opens again, letting Takeshi's father in and interrupting Hide (who looks really glad he got interrupted). Tsuyoshi looks weary, and he slams a bottle of some clear liquid on a table before looking at them with a weak smile.

"Hi son, hello children."

There are a few minutes of terrible silence where everyone looks at one another like they hold the secrets of the universe or like they did the worst doable thing in the world, and Takeshi sighs. This game is starting to get boring like this and he doesn't like it -or rather, he never liked it, but since he is being forced to play he _will_ win, because he _always_ wins. So, he slaps on his best winner smile and faces his father, who pretends to not be looking at anything in particular. Fun.

"Hey dad, do you know anything about any attacks?"

"No, I don-" And then Tsuyoshi jumps when something seems to crawl up his back. "Go away, you-"

"Three members of the Disciplinary Committee, ranging from second to third year, one second year from the Judo club, and one third year member of the Light Music club," says a chirpy voice from behind him, and suddenly they are all staring at Reborn, sitting on Takeshi's father's head like he belongs there and reading off a note pad with a miniature microphone in his hand, "were attacked today, around 8 to 9 PM. The attacks took place all around Namimori, making the investigators believe them to be the work of multiple perpetrators, but the similar wounds in each of the bodies indicate other-"

Reborn jumps away to their table when Tsuyoshi tries to catch him, and then he is going on a merry escape around the room when Tsuyoshi throws knife after knife at him. Gokudera yells and grabs both Hide and Longchamp, pulling them under the table, and it is _adorable_ how they all seem to cower in fear at the sight of a grown man throwing knives at a baby.

Takeshi thinks this is all merry and fun, until there don't seem to be more knives hidden in his father's clothes anymore. He can't let this happen, because Yamamotos always win, so he leans back to grab the fillet knife from the counter and throws it at his father.

"Stop _doing_ that!" Hide's desperate voice comes from under the table, and Takeshi laughs.

"-but the similar, almost exact copies of the wounds in each of the victims bodies seem to indicate-" Reborn continues his reading, now dodging the knife that Tsuyoshi's expert sword hand is wielding. "-that there is, indeed, only one perpetrator, or accomplices-!" He jumps back and shoots a quick bullet at Tsuyoshi's feet. "The wounds present on the victims' bodies at the time of autopsy-"

"They aren't _dead_!" Slash, upwards slash, retrieve a knife from the floor and rethrow it quickly.

"-they would be better off- THE WOUNDS present on the victims bodies' were various, most of them slash marks believed to be made by a midsized wolf's claws-" The baby _steps_ on the knife's blade, making Tsuyoshi yell in confusion and reach for him with his free hand. Unfortunately, Reborn jumps, and Tsuyoshi falls, and Reborn stands triumphant on his head.

Damn.

"Where was I- Right, midsized wolf's claws or a great mountain cat, as well as a single needle puncture-"

"AUGH SHUT UP!"

"And MISSING TEETH-"

Tsuyoshi leaps up again to catch Reborn, but the damage is already done. Takeshi looks at Hide, who is looking at Reborn like he just gave him the best gift in the world, which he guesses is true. And Reborn, Reborn smirks from his spot, being almost choked by Takeshi's father in the single most adorable chokehold of the world.

They have a lead, and this time enemies _do_ exist.

* * *

**005**

**Kokuyo**

" _Yo_ , old man!"

Ken slams the wrapped fish on the counter and holds up a rabbit for the old man to see. He is grinning; today was a good hunt and they are also getting food, so whatever! Everything is awesome, and they are down five in their list.

"Hello, child. It is a little late to be hunting," the man says, already prodding the fish's eyes with a finger. He is old, but not too old -probably about Birds' age, which isn't all that much all things considered. Birds _looks_ really old, though. "This looks good enough, what would you like?"

"Noodles!"

Ken leaves the store with a bag holding noodles, some plain, lukewarm rice and a bar of chocolate. He grins even wider, this is _such a good day_ , what the heck! Everyday in Kokuyo is great and all that, but today is especially awesome because they are eating _noodles_ , which Lancia will cook, because he is cool like that. Honestly, this is so good right now, nothing could ruin his day.

...except that. Maybe.

He dodges the rotting dog's charge and waves to the 'fake policeman' that is walking the dog (what? Zombie dog? What?). He has to cover his nose when he walks past them both, but the smell is not so bad as to completely ruin his day. He remembers not to stare, since it is _rude as fuck_ , and twirls in the spot to block an incoming attack from behind him.

"Good evening, wildling!"

The child (the _other_ child, the one that attacked him from behind) does a backflip in the air to land a few feet away, their mask still in place like always. They lift an envelope between two fingers, and Ken has to wonder what Chikusa offered the kid for the information. Rule one of Kokuyo, always pay back on time (and the proper amount, as M.M. figured out when she tried to trade a cheap hat for a hand-made bonnet). The kid is dressed in the standard Kokuyo uniform, but since they look barely out of Elementary school, Ken seriously doubts they are wearing it legally.

"Where is your companion?"

"Around, probably," he responds, looking around for anywhere Chikusa could be hiding. Hopefully around, since he _doesn't_ want to deal with the annoying informant, but since it is Chikusa... "You want to talk to him?"

"...I'll hunt for him," the kid says, vanishing again into the wherever-the-hell they come from, and Ken stares a little. That's _creepy_ , but the children apparently know every way in, out and across this little town, so he guesses that's fine?

Well, no matter. He has to get the noodles to Lancia.

He doesn't meet anyone else in the way to the road, thankfully. People in Kokuyo, while helpful and unusually happy, are nosy as _fuck_. Like, impossible levels of nosy, unlike people at Namimori who seem to cower in fear if you so much as look at their direction.

When they arrived, the first thing the people did was ask where their parents were and if they needed somewhere to stay, which was _weird_. Mukuro had admitted then (through Lancia) they were runaways, which had opened a whole load of possibilities for them in the town. Parentless children were _loved_ in Kokuyo, since apparently they were constantly low on staff for everything and always needed someone to run errands around the city. Errands as in information gathering, deliveries of questionable origin, fish or hunt around for tomorrow's lunch or simply help at the local tasks.

It isn't just parentless children, too. Just, children in general, and they were everywhere with their tiny masks and acting like a stray pack that knows they will get food if they linger around but if not they will just leave. Even the ones who have families are like that, though apparently it didn't matter, because Kokuyo was like a single family where everyone took care of each other and it was ridiculously cute and idealistic and Ken would have thought it fake if it didn't _work_.

It works too well, even. It works so well that he knows, if he brings in a few birds tomorrow morning, there will be bread waiting for him; that if Mukuro and Lancia spend a little longer looking for wild herbs, they can trade them in for juice or milk; that if Chikusa remembers conversations or who-met-whom's, _those_ can be traded in for pics of the twenty-four strongest of Namimori Middle. It is weird as hell, but it is also really comfortable because one, they don't need to work or go out of the island (it was bad enough getting in as it was) and two, people don't ask them questions because they are _children_ and _pure as snow_.

Except Birds. And the remaining twin. Lancia gets problems with people at times, as well, but since Lancia doesn't show up in public at all it doesn't matter. Really, M.M., Chikusa and Ken himself are the only ones who do anything around Kokuyo, because Mukuro still has to manage his minions. Birds was on spy duty and the twin... well, it had wanted to go hunt the list with them, but they want them injured, not killed.

Conclusion: it's _so fucking easy_ to live in Kokuyo, Ken loves it. Yeah, they have money stored away, but this here is no emergency; even Mukuro agrees that, as much as adults and humanity are cursed beings who deserve nothing more than death, the people in Kokuyo are pretty useful. Even if they are being pushed into _enrolling school_ , because pure children need their education and what not. The only wrong thing: the undead police officers that looked pretty normal until you looked at them in the eye, but you learn to ignore things like that (ignore them, and they will ignore you! It is rude to stare).

"Noodles!" He yells into the building (Kokuyo Health Land, or whatever), making his way up the only path available into their only two usable rooms (one for them, one for the hostages). He finds everyone around an already burning portable stove, because they are tired of snacks and carbonated drinks after a few days of only eating those and they are _celebrating_ today. Five down, nineteen to go. "I am amazing and _I_ have brought noodles!"

Chikusa arrives a few minutes later, envelope in hand and looking like he wants nothing more than to go sleep. Or hide away into a small niche in the wall, that works too.

"I was attacked by flying fish."

...yeah. Kokuyo is pretty easy to live in, but it is also _really fucking weird_.

"How, exactly, does one get attacked by _flying fish_." Birds deadpans from where he is feeding his birds tiny seeds and worms. Ew.

"Wasn't it legged fish the other day?" M.M. throws in, covering her mouth with her hand probably to hide her laugh. "Don't your fish even sleep?"

"I'll catch one so we can see, maybe they are sharks."

"Oh, please do, I do wish to see your hallucinative fish species, kappa."

When it looks like Chikusa will throw a needle at M.M. with a full dose in it, Ken throws the noodles at Lancia (who keeps quiet whenever they fight, because he is Lancia) and pulls Chikusa by the neck to the couch. Mukuro, who is pretend-sleeping, makes a sound that Ken understands as 'not a sound or I'll kill you', so Ken drops Chikusa by his feet and then proceeds to run away.

"Good evening kids, I have brought dinner," he calls into the other, smaller room. The room is small, but decorated by M.M., so it looks even smaller than it should especially when its only inhabitants are a pair of grade schoolers and two giant books. "Today you are having rice."

The boy informant, Fuuta, who doesn't act like an informant at all (informants are either sleazy or Chikusa, and the boy is neither; he is all cheer and smiles, or was), looks up from his spot sitting by the other boy, Tsunayoshi (who feels like Mukuro, smells like Mukuro _and age_ , and at times even speaks like Mukuro. It isn't even funny), who is... probably sleeping. Like he usually does. Both of them are wearing mini-Kokuyo uniforms that Chikusa somehow managed to snatch from someplace, because their clothes are dirty from days of use, of course. They look _cute_ , really, but also like one pair of murderous children Ken once met in prison: cold eyes, stiff stances and twitchy hands; like they are expecting to be on the run at any time.

"Hello, Ken- _san_ ," the boy greets with a frozen smile. Well, at least he acts well. "Thank you for the meal, but my brother is-"

"Awake," calls the other boy, and Ken jumps back. He hadn't even _heard_ the boy move, or his breathing change, or anything. Like a stone, or like _Mukuro_ , except instead of a gentle, constantly amused voice, his tone was all Chikusa and emptiness. "I am up, Fuuta."

Ken goes in to give them their cold rice dinner, since they rarely move from their spots (unless Mukuro wants a nap, then Mukuro will bring them in to cuddle for some reason -really, cuddling _Mukuro_ , that's like the worst idea), and sits down besides them while they eat at snail's pace. Their water bottles are refilled, probably from lunchtime still because they don't bother to eat or drink unless the other is awake and since they take turns, they rarely catch them in time to force them to drink _something_. The self-destructive behavior is something both Ken and Chikusa have seen before (three guesses where and the first two don't count), so they had taken to being really observant of both kids so they wouldn't die on their watch.

That would be too much. Hurting children is banned, prohibited and to be judged under Mukuro law, unless it is really _really_ necessary. Which is why none of them really care much that the _other_ twin vanished, since both of them were useful tools, but also indiscriminate murderers that didn't care about anything. That is also the reason why Mukuro only half-trusts one adult in his life, and his name is Lancia.

"May I ask what day it is?" Tsunayoshi asks, only half looking at Ken like he doesn't really care. Which, he probably doesn't.

"It has been a week," Ken answers. Dates are a vague construct they didn't keep up with when on the run, so they settled to keeping track of days after each important landmark (rivers, villages, packs of edible wild animals) or events -in this case, when they kidnapped the kids. "Not that it matters, since you're coming with us when we are done here."

Not that Ken wants to leave, but they are on a mission. And Mukuro has taken a liking to the two brats, so it isn't up for question: when they have to leave, they are taking the kids.

* * *

**record interlude**

**10yB-log0001**

_"Hello, camera, and probably Verde who is the only person who would ever bother to watch these! This is Lambo Bovino, seven years old; my favorite candy is grapes and I love playing with heavy artillery, like this one here, see? The date is July the fourteenth, 2011 and this is the first progress record for the amazing Lambo's personal project since Verde doesn't want us running around the lab without something to do, which is a pity because Lambo_ can _help, I really can! Verde is no different from the meanie Reborn and I- I can-"_

_"Brat."_

_"R-Right! Reborn is a meanie and everyone has been really bad to Lambo-san lately, so I have to keep myself busy- but I don't want to, Lambo just wants to go back home! Boo, stupid Namimori being too dangerous, we are a hitman, the best hitman, nothing is too dangerous for Lambo-san!_ S _tupid Hide-_ nii _and Reborn and everyone else who thinks I can't take care of myself, I have done so for years! But back to the project, Lambo-_ san _-_ my _project consists on a replica of our ever favorite childhood toy, the ten years bazooka! You know, purple bazooka, pink smoke, pretty cool but I'm not supposed to have brought it with me, shush! Since it_ is _a pretty weird piece of shit-"_

 _"_ Lambo _."_

_"Hgh- since it is a pretty weird and awesome piece of really advanced technology we got when I was a baby, I don't actually know much about it. Or about how it works, but no one knows how it works except Verde who isn't telling me anything, why is everything like this!? How is Lambo supposed to create a time travelling machine without any idea how to start-"_

_"That's up to you."_

_"You're right, Lambo-_ san is _awesome and great and I can totally do this! Just watch, you stupid idiots, Lambo will prove we are the best! So just ignore us, we will show you we can do this and that it will be easy as_ fuck _\- ow, that hurts, why!? You-"_

_"No weapons in the lab."_

_"Hgh... I will... tolerate..."_

_..._

_"You left the camera on, kid."_

_"Right, I did. It was on purpose, ok."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We begin Kokuyo with dead people, we are off to a great start! This was going to be the chess reference chapter, but then I was like 'nah', so in the end it was just like 'whatever names whatever' like always. On that topic, _Cŵn Annwn_ are the hounds from the underworld.
> 
> You know, the Kokuyo assault was like, two days? Well, they can't really do it in two days nw because Namimori is fuuuu. So they are moving slowly... like this fic... slow...
> 
> Who is my main character anymore I don't even know. Since Mukuro and co. aren't on the run anymore, we get to see what the Arcobabies are doing. Or rather, what Verde and Skull are researching on the sidelines. Also, Lambo's speech pattern is a mess and Verde's idea of teaching a kid is throwing them straight to deep water and see if they will swim.
> 
> I will be gone for next week, so no updates then. Yes, you get to be confused for a whole of TWO weeks, amazing.


	14. wild hunt: side A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Namimori suffers attacks, a snake laughs in the background. People take emergency measures that never work, because nothing ever works as it should in this city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNINGS:** Usual things. Messy conspiracies. Welsh references in title? Still MukuTsuna trash, but that doesn't show here.

* * *

**wild hunt :**

**gwythyr**

* * *

**006**

**Briefing**

Somehow or another, Hide finds himself sitting outside the sovereign's office, in the large room they have taken to call the briefing room, with Reborn on his lap. A large group of DC and Neighbourhood Watch members are scattered around, some of the adults giving the students whispered advice on whatever, while the slightly more annoying gate keepers sit on the windowsills. Overall there must be about fifty or so high-ranked yet faceless members of the community, including Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, all three generations of the Kusakabe family, Hibari Kyoya (lurking just outside the room because of _crowding_ ) and some other high profile people whose names aren't all that known to Hide.

They are having a city-wide meeting about the attacks. The case of his missing brothers is still being kept under wraps, so no one really knows about them, but he _knows_ the attacks are related one way or another; the needle punctures revealed the same diameter as those found in Keiko- _san_ 's body, but this time only with weak tranquilizers. So, yes, Hide has hope for this meeting. Not so much for the people, though.

The door to the office opens and the figure of Hibari Senior steps out, carrying a few rolled up maps with him and yawning. Besides him are Kurokawa Fuyuka, one hand holding her headphones up and another quickly tapping away at her handheld device, and Shiraishi Natsumi, using a huge paper umbrella as a walking cane. Hide looks away when he sees Gokudera, unassuming and uncaring, sneak into the office room when everyone's eyes turn to the sovereign.

Okay.

"Greetings, citizens," says Hibari once his son goes to stand, dutifully, next to him. "I bid you welcome to this year's first, and hopefully last, emergency meeting on outsider interference within our city walls. It hurts me and my team to say we are currently on heavy need of assistance from all of you..."

The man drones on. His voice is low, lazy and boring enough that it sends a wave of tiredness through the room, and soon his yawning has spread through to the farthest and most uncaring guests. Even after the maps have been spread out to various groups of people and Kurokawa takes over, the sleepy aura of everything doesn't fade; it seems to get worse, even. Even Hibari Kyoya has given in, finding a nice place against the wall to ignore everything and take a nap, with the youngest Kusakabe standing guard.

Hide rubs his eyes. He is _not_ paying attention, not even when a map is passed to him and he has to spread it for the closest people. Reborn is probably memorizing the spots, and Gokudera already has the record; besides, the DC boards are quite well updated on this matter. Even now, when they are supposed to be at a meeting, there is a steady buzzing on his pocket that tells him posts are showing up in the featured thread.

He probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't because Hibari Kyoya dragged him out of the hospital with orders and threats. Someday, he will learn to go against Hibari Kyoya. One day. When he is twenty or so.

He pays a little more attention when Shiraishi Natsumi twirls her umbrella in her hands and warns them about the possible poisons they may encounter in the case they find the perpetrators, muscle relaxants, tranquilizers and slow-acting poisons being within them. He makes a note to look them up later, but then he has already forgotten the names. Ah, well, Reborn probably has it noted down? He also listens in when people list the possible targets, though he knows those already: the DCB had been betting on them for a while, now.

A long while later, when people are filing out of the room and he is getting up from his spot on the floor, Reborn hops to his head. Hide re-balances himself after a second of weakness, having the weight of a baby, a ghost and his staff weighing him down.

" _Ciaossu_ , Miura," the baby says, and Hide quickly turns around to face the man. He didn't even _feel_ him, what, why, stop that. "Did you need us?"

"Mister R. Hidetada." Miura Satoshi nods to them and motions to the office door, where Hide can see an amused Shiraishi- _san_ holding Gokudera by his jacket. "You are needed inside."

Hide walks to his death -or rather, to the office, feeling dread pooling in his stomach. He can feel years of conditioned responses forcing some irrational, ancient fear in him to come out (flee for your life, ignore them and they will ignore you, _everything is peace in Namimori_ ), but then he remembers Hibari Kyoya and Reborn and their even more irrational lessons on how to deal with the higher rulers of Namimori and tries to force it all down.

As he steps into the room, it comes back. Like a heavy weight on his heart and mind, yet like cotton wrapping around his thoughts. If it wasn't for Giotto -clinging to him since this morning, all caramel and sweets and _happiness_ -, he would flee the room with no words said. He is _terrified_ of these people, no matter how nice they look or how physically weak they are.

In Namimori, they are all raised with an impossible respect for the sovereign (okay, so maybe calling him sovereign is a little too much, but he is the final voice and almighty ruler) and the founder's families. The Sawada were free from it, as they fell right besides the Hibari, slightly below and to the side, disconnected from the traditional hierarchy and at the top of their own. Technically, Hide should stand next to Hibari Kyoya when it comes to family and blood and what not, but then he _is_ a DC member, nameless, faceless and serving the community for the best; he was trained to follow, and follow he does.

Everything is terrible and Namimori is _worse_.

Gokudera comes to stand next to him, huffing; he is too far for Hide to know what he was doing, or to receive a signal of his success or lack of, but for now he will assume things failed. Reborn hops from his head to Gokudera's shoulder, and they all face the people in front of them.

"Sinclair- _san_ , Gokudera Hayato- _kun_ , Hide- _chan_." Hibari Masato greets them all with the lazy, cheerful tone Hide has come to associate as an introduction to something terrible. He is sitting on his desk (actually sitting _on_ it), playing with the beads of his bracelets and not paying attention to them at all; they are probably just annoying peasants to him. "I feel so terrible about asking for so much of your time, but it is so sad! Everything is so sad, lately, you see? It is just-"

"Herbivore," Hibari Kyoya interrupts from where he is leaning on his own desk, and Hide's respect for him soars higher and higher. People dare _interrupt_ Hibari Masato? "Get to your point."

"Ah, you are right, Kyoya! I should cut my words, I should!" The sovereign smiles, that sleepy smile that makes everyone feel at ease yet also makes everyone feel like things will go wrong in the next sentence. Giotto _bristles_. "Then, Hide- _chan_. I will ignore your friend's snooping around for today-"

"Wait, what-" Gokudera hisses, mostly to himself, but Hide hears and throws him a glance. He really doesn't believe they are just going to ignore it, but for now they should take what they can. Sure, Gokudera probably feels like his hard work is just being ignored, but...

"-because I trust you and do not believe you would go against the laws of the city, so let us get to the truly important matter." The sovereign hums to himself and reaches for something behind himself; Hide feels his nerves telling him fight or flight, flight or fight, _don't just stay frozen_ , but he can't do anything with Miura at his back and Shiraishi still standing there. "In the case Ietsuna _-sama_ falls-"

"He will not," is the immediate response from half the people in the room, including Hide himself. Hibari (Kyoya) throws an annoyed look at his father, who is holding a yellow envelope to his face like he was just deeply offended by something.

" _Well_ , but just in the case he _does_ ," Hibari (Masato) continues, fanning the envelope out so Hide can see it; it is old, faded white to yellow to brown, with a signature he recognizes in one corner, "and, if the misfortunes continue, we do not find Tsunayoshi in time, _then_ there will be no head for house Sawada in Namimori. Which is, as you know, unacceptable."

"What about _sensei_. Or Father." It doesn't matter anyways; he takes the envelope. He hears Reborn shift so he can look at it closer, but he doesn't care about that much.

"Chiyo- _san_ is not blood related and your father is still-" and here Masato grimaces, as if he is disgusted by what he is even thinking about, "- _traveling_. Besides, he never _wanted_ the house anyways, so the choice is perfectly clear in my eyes."

Hide looks down at the key in the envelope. It is so heavy, so much of a responsibility, and it feels like the only thing in the room besides himself and Giotto. Giotto who lashes out at Hibari, all _resentment_ for once, and the spirit's emotions make him blink. Why is he so _angry_?

"...does this mean you have stopped looking for Tsuna," he finally asks, because what else could it be? That is Tsuna's house, Tsuna's key -Tsuna's _duty_ , not his. He is supposed to go to the Vongola, no matter how much the town wants to keep him here.

He looks up. Hibari Masato looks impassive (Hide notices one of his bracelets snapped; must be Giotto's doing), now flanked by his hound and his second in command; Kurokawa at least deigns to look ashamed, since even Shiraishi has a small smile on like she expected this outcome.

Hide glances at Hibari Kyoya, who also looks impassive, but he has his tonfa in a tight grip. Well, it would seem he didn't know, then. The feeling of betrayal goes away, just a little, still there and aimed at a group of people that are doing absolutely nothing for the safety of the people who matter to him.

"You need to understand, Hidetada," the sovereign says, and Hide fights a flinch. Must not show weakness. "We have a town to protect and cannot ignore the safety of our citizens. This is the law."

He nods stiffly. He bows in silence. He turns and walks out of the room, Gokudera at his heels.

He doesn't dare breathe until he is outside the main house, and by then the sound of Hibari Kyoya breaking hell on some poor wall can reach his ears. He gasps and collapses, hitting the stone next to him repeatedly until Gokudera takes his arms and pulls him away.

When they get back home, they learn there have been four more attacks.

While Takeshi and Reborn discuss on the attacks, Hide settles down to review the new info Gokudera risked his life to steal. There is something weird with all this, and there is something even weirder about the way people are being stopped from really investigating. What are they hiding _now_?

A couple minutes before midnight, a message shows up in their phones. It makes Hide grin, because it means they are _finally_ doing something instead of relying on what they are being told to do.

_The adults are useless. Meet at storehouse 2 at 6 tomorrow. K_

* * *

**007**

**Rangers**

Since two centuries ago, when Namimori was founded as it currently is, it has been a land of prosperity, tradition and family lines that go on and on with their old and ancient jobs. Kokuyo, as well: old, dusty, built around an economy based on trade and self-sufficiency that people from the outside do not, or would not, understand. They pay no dues to the outside, no one does. Their only contact to the outside world is through the regular outsiders that come in, do their business and leave, without a care for what goes on under the normalcy of the town.

There are some other outsiders that stay. Students in Midori and Yumei, or of Namimori Community College or Midori University; students who, through long and hard work, manage to get themselves inside the carefully made borders of the city to learn. Students that, after all is done and said, never bother to get away; be it for laziness, a like for the peace and quiet of Namimori and the neighbourhood towns or the unknown economy that flourishes below the radar. Their blood spreads and prospers, life in Namimori goes on, and on, and on, and people do not notice anything outside average.

Then there is refugees. Underworld or political exiles with no place to lay dead in, who got the word of Namimori from the very few of their citizens who had left for a few years. They get in and live, build their normal lives; their access to some corners is restricted (like Kokuyo, or to any building not inside the daily life border) and their lives are somehow carefully managed through the use of subtle messages in the city life. Again, they rarely leave. Again, they rarely are allowed to leave.

Through two centuries of complete and absolute _bullshit_ , every generation developed a sense of unity built around competitiveness, silence and tight familial bonds. Classmates became co-workers, school crushes became spouses. Everyone knows each other and everyone knows exactly how the city works: you live here, you die here. You live here and so will your progeny. You _live_ here, and here you shall rest. You live here and you will do your best for your city to prosper. You live here and you tell _no one_ what you have seen.

Which is why it is no surprise when, the day after the second attack raid and the city-wide Life Namimori emergency meeting, Hibari Kyoya finds himself with a group of children and teenagers of various ages discussing the future of their city. They are not the first school-aged group of people to meet in secret, and they will not be the last: this is their city, and they have to make sure it somehow goes on. Especially after the so-called leaders admitted they would not do anything themselves.

The warehouse is old, long abandoned by the one who used it for their _interesting_ affairs of drug trafficking. There are still some machines scattered around, as well as few packages of chemicals Kyoya does not care about. The woman who used to run this particular business had been ran out of town (erased, really) a few years ago, when she had tested her boundaries and tried to sell her wares to the city folk. Alas, it had not gone well; no one liked those who broke the trade rules of the city, and Namimori people had always been careful to keep themselves away from the illegal business in the district closer to the port.

Be it they are aware of those business, or not, they keep away. It is law, and law is enforced very well in Namimori. Ah, peaceful and quiet Namimori.

"I still say we go beat them up," says Mochida Kensuke from where he is cleaning a sword. Both Sawada Hidetada and Asari-Yamamoto Takeshi are close to him, also working on their respective weapons. Kyoya approves of their choices and is just a little happy they have given up on training weapons, finally. "I mean, c'mon, do we really need to wait until the list comes down to _us_?"

"I disagree TO THE EXTREME!" That is Sasagawa Ryohei, yelling as always. He is immediately shushed by the others around him and brought back down to sit; thank you, high school students. "As UNEXTREME as these Kokuyo are, no offense-"

"None taken," is the quick reply from the Kokuyo people of the room: three middle school third years, none of them wearing masks (surprisingly enough). They do not exist, like their town, but they make their voice be heard. Kuroe Akito still throws a pebble at the boxer.

"-they are still Namimori citizens and should be judged under our EXTREME law!"

Silence. Many do not agree with the _extreme_ law of the city, but others do. Sawada, partially. Sasagawa, definitely. Mochida, barely. The three families who had never truly _lost_ anyone to the law of the Judge over Kokuyo or to the law of the island, and who never understood the consequences of it. Although not many people probably _remember_ ever meeting the erasers and prison guards of Namimori Island.

Kyoya remembers. At times, only; mostly he doesn't and keeps the memories far away from his mind. Every once in a while, like now, he gets flashes and _remembers_ , rotting skin and dull eyes, _ridiculous_ tophats and bandages. Masks and carefully arranged flower bouquets, laid on empty tombstones. Useless apologies.

The DC _enforces_ the law. They watch and teach. They watch and make sure people do not have to meet the _real_ police. They have an important duty of keeping the Judge's greedy hands away from citizens.

"They kidnapped my _brothers_!" Sawada slams his fist down on the ground next to him, looking at Ryohei with sharp eyes. Then, the effect is ruined when he shakes his hand with a pained yelp. "Who knows what is happening to them- Tsuna and Fuuta!"

"That is also EXTREMELY UNEXTREME, but all citizens DESERVE LAW EQUALITY." Sasagawa nods to himself, seemingly accepting his own words as the truth. "The boxing club will-"

"No." Kyoya wants a gavel. Unfortunately, his insect of a father wouldn't let him rest if he took his; fortunately, Kyoya has trained his people to respond to the tones of his voice. He watches with delight as they all come to attention (except for those who don't exist). "The attacks have mostly been to members of the DC. The DC shall take care of this."

"If-" The nervous-looking college student -Saiga?- gives Kyoya a trembling look, making a low sound that sounds like that a little animal would make when in fear. After a nod, the man stands a little straighter and coughs into his fist. "If the DC is w-willing to take care of- of this business, th-then we will s-s-stay off you- your, your path."

There is a yell of outrage from some point in the room: Miura Haru, who is getting to her feet with a wooden _tantou_ in her hand, looks furious. Saiga scrambles back, trips on the floor and cowers behind a table.

"Are you saying _Midori_ should not interfere _at all_?" Her anger is like a cold breeze in the room and everyone seems to scatter away. It is a little amusing. "That _Haru_ should not try to save her _friend_!?"

"N-No! But- it is just, only middle school students and- and!"

"You would leave us to _rot!_?"

"If that is so," speaks up a little girl wrapped in a heavy coat, "then we also cannot ignore this. Sawada is missing, which is news for us-" She motions to the armband tied to her coat, symbolizing the DC's elementary school division. Her name is Kato, the head of the communication chain for the littlest of Kyoya's officers. "-well, maybe not for Kurokawa and Sasagawa, but it is for everyone else. The thing is, our teachers haven't gone through safety protocol in this past week, at all-"

"Not at all?" Tetsuya speaks up from where he is taking notes. On what, Kyoya doesn't really know.

"No, not at all." Kato shakes her head, bringing the coat closer to herself. "We are asked to get home as quick as possible, though. It is still not proper protocol."

There is some shuffling in the corner and, when everyone turns to face the Kokuyo children, they find Shiraishi Nagi quietly chastising the Kuroe twins. Or is it the other way around?

Shiraishi Nagi. The gloomy-looking, ever frowning assistant to the Judge, elder Shiraishi twin and a fearsome opponent, not. Kyoya has met her enough times to know she is a pushover who, asides from being the older sister of Kokuyo, has no real sense of self-preservation or a drop of fighting spirit in her. A true herbivore, that one; though, she must have _something_ if she has managed to get in the Judge's good side _and_ the trust of most, if not all, the wildling children of the island.

"I believe," she begins once the twins go back to arranging stones and bottles on the ground. Her voice is quiet, drifting and nonexistent, and Kyoya is reminded of her mother's fairy tales. She pulls at her skirt, clearly uncomfortable from the attention. "I believe, we should not ignore this any further. What the adults are doing is wrong and, keeping us in the dark is too, and the attacks, just-"

"Yes, well, I don't like being kept ignorant! They don't tell us anything!" From next to Sasagawa comes Amagi's yell. She is from high school, a DC member and not someone to trouble oneself with; her only important feature is her forceful personality and that she reports directly to Tetsuya, without going through the communication chain. "What are we supposed to _do_ , anyways? This is a missing beacon we are talking about!"

"Ietsuna- _sama_ is still alive," responds Shiraishi, still pulling at her skirt and looking down. Meek. "Even then, then Sawada- _sama_ should be able to- to hold the beacon for a while...?"

"I can't _do_ that-"

Yamamoto ruffles Sawada's hair, silencing him in time. Good. Kyoya doesn't feel like dealing with beacon conspiracies and Judges today (well, he never feels like it). Although he is curious about something.

"If things come to worse," says Kuroe Takemi, lining up a final black bottle on a line, "we die. That is all there is to it." She flicks her finger at the final bottle in the line, watching as they fall like dominoes next to each other- until it is stopped by a pebble her brother placed at the end. "By the way, they are keeping well hidden! And, well protected. They seem to be under Judge protection or something-"

"Wait, who?" Yamamoto's voice comes out as a friendly question, but then Sawada leans slightly away from him. Much like Miura's anger, Yamamoto's questions seem like they will destroy you from inside.

"New group in Kokuyo." That is Kuroe the eldest, not bothering to soften his words, like always. "So far we have seen three kids and an adult - _real_ adult, mind you-, but they are the only suspicious people we have managed to find."

"Unfortunately," Shiraishi starts again, kicking her feet at the back of the Kuroe's heads (Kyoya wants to hit her, those are _his_ informants in the LN), "we cannot give you their appearances, names or residence-"

"Damn it, Kokuyo!" Sawada yells, already getting up. Yamamoto follows, Mochida follows. Amagi draws a gun -shooting club, right- and aims at them. "You-"

"UNEXTREME, KOKUYO. FOLLOW THE EXTREME RULE OF MUTUAL COOPERATION!" Sasagawa makes his voice heard over the cacophony of the usual anti-Kokuyo side, which makes Kuroe youngest raise her voice:

"There is no _mutual cooperation_ between you and us! There has never been and never _will_!"

" _Hahi_! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!"

The twins stand before Shiraishi, who is already reaching for their masks and her own baton. Miura has also darted to their side, apparently ready to defend her friends, while Saiga looks like he also wants to join in their defense. Kyoya would like to assess the situation (Namimori would clearly win this one, as well; Kokuyo are all ranged fighters and sneaky, tactical attacks), but if he allows this to go on any further it will get nowhere.

"Enough." His voice makes everyone stumble, and it is great. All the pseudo-carnivore children -his _people_ , trained by him and for him- turn to look (surprisingly, even Shiraishi Nagi), weapons lowered and stances a little more relaxed than he would allow it. He wants to beat them up, bite them _all_ to death, but then he would have no bait. "We have gotten what we can from today. Dismissed, or you will all get detention."

Sawada Hidetada lets out a yell of frustration, but that's all the noise that the children make before they start getting ready to leave.

Kyoya smiles to himself.

* * *

**008**

**Beanie**

"Listen up, crew."

Kurokawa Fuyuka stands before her team, a radio console just behind her. It is currently syntonized to the main radio of Namimori, as they are supposed to be off duty, but she will _not_ quit now. Not now that she has been hearing reports of clandestine meetings between people who should not even know of each other, not now that people are even more wary of the streets than usual. This is her _city_ , and she will not allow it to just burn without their wrongdoings being solved. She takes a breath and, after tapping her headphones twice, speaks up again:

"We have gotten an anonymous tip that the next targets will be our own Kuroe siblings." Anonymous, as in _actually_ anonymous: the DCB kept registry of IPs and phone SIM cards even when the poster wished to remain 'unregistered', and though they rarely tracked them down, it was for her peace of mind. Not seeing the usual code associated to the post had sent Sato in a wild chase for the coordinates of the post, but he hasn't come back just yet. "With the lack of staff the information department has, we cannot allow more people to _quit_ due to selfish reasons. No, hospitalization is not _selfish_ , but that does not mean I will allow _my_ people to be hurt if I can stop it."

"But-" Someone in the front row says, flinching away when she slams her palm down on the desk before her. The console rattles behind her and someone yelps, raising the volume of their radio in the back.

"No!" Fuyuka yells. She is already turning around to re-syntonize her radio to the communicators of the Watch: Tsuyoshi is currently on hunt, so she will focus on him. "Keep watch on the cameras. If any of them goes offline, just SHOUT! These are no normal people we are dealing with. We will be here _all night_ if necessary!"

She hears people scramble behind her, loudly settling down in their desks and returning to their duties (even when they are off-duty). _Everyone_ is on the last of their nerves, even her, so it is no wonder they just want this to be over with. Masato is willing to pretend he is giving up on Tsunayoshi, and Kyoya is willing to place his people as bait; things have taken a turn for the worse already.

She brings her headphones back over her head, closes her eyes and _listens._

* * *

The people walk out of the storehouse in intervals, and Hayato waits above the roof for Decimo. Reborn is sitting on his head, still reading over the stolen papers' photos in his phone while occasionally commenting on Hayato's remarks on the people who walk underneath.

He can't help it. All of them are _weird_ people, and all of them looked up at Hayato's hiding location like they knew he was there. Maybe Reborn is right and he _sucks_ at hiding, which is not good: ranged fighters cannot be bad at hiding. He needs to master hiding in plain sight, and hiding in Namimori is his first task.

The first person to walk out is Saiga whatever-his-name-is, making an awkward clutching motion with his hands and looking around like a small animal about to be eaten. He disappears quick enough, and after him walk out Shiraishi and Miura, one chatting away while the other passively (or nervously) listens on.

Reborn looks at the two girls for a few seconds ('they would make good guardians,' is his only comment), before they disappear from sight and out comes Amagi. Namimori Middle/High School joint shooting club's president makes a huge show of stretching while she walks to the entrance of storehouse 4 ('so _that's_ where the firearms come from.' Hayato notes up the location in his mind), and then Sasagawa and Mochida are jogging out in surprising silence.

A worryingly small, hooded figure ('I'm sure that's Kato,' Reborn says) walks out holding hands with another hooded figure ('then that's Irie? I thought he wasn't invited'. 'Whoever it is, he is representing Yumei.'). The both do something by one of the dozen metal containers in the area and then disappear as well.

Decimo and Yamamoto come out next, so Hayato jumps down the roof to land next to them. He is quite ready for the sheathed sword that ends up pressed to his neck and the narrowed eyes that widen in recognition in a few seconds. Really, everyone in this city is weird as _fuck_ and he is surprised they were allowed to even grow up normally, but then he has already read the documents he had managed to snatch from Hibari Masato's office.

Namimori is a disgusting place to grow up in. Out of the files he had managed to steal- pardon, borrow, some were worthless, others were reports on city economy (illegal deals with underworld markets here and there), one was a report on outsider policies and then there were _gems_. There is one he can't read, as it is coded and it is taking too long to decode; another that Reborn saw and took away to hand over to Shamal, and another that seemed to be an hospital record file until they saw the contents.

Hayato wanted to throw up.

_Memory treatment subjects for 2009-2010_

Two out of five children, as well as one in four adults in Namimori (the Island, not the town) went through a procedure known as memory _treatment_ , for their own health of mind and the ease of the town. It was basically a health care procedure that went on for a couple years, which made people simply forget everything they saw, heard or felt outside of what they considered normal for what they had grown up believing. Just like that, _poof_ , the memories were gone; stored away in a far off corner in the patient's mind until the block came off.

They had taken the information yesterday and, already, Shamal was about to collapse and murder someone. Whoever was doing those treatments was the worst kind of person, Shamal said, as it is clearly Mist flames and _really strong_ Mist flames, at that. Still, those kind of Mist illusions could be overridden by strong shock, as had happened to Hidetada and Yamamoto, or by the death of whoever had cast the illusions.

"Gokudera?"

He jumps back at the voice; Decimo, it is Decimo. He has gotten lost in thought, and now Decimo is looking at him in concern, while Yamamoto has already placed his sword back in place and taken Reborn into his arms. Hayato shrugs and reaches to check for his own weapons as subtly as he can.

"It is nothing, Decimo. Just thinking."

Decimo seems to accept his words, for he simply nods, a bright smile in his face, and Hayato smiles back. Yamamoto is already walking away from them, talking amiably with Reborn, so the two of them just follow at a slower pace -it isn't like they are in any hurry to get wherever they are staying today, after all. None of them have any active guardians, what with Yamamoto Senior being on-duty, Mamma Sawada being on constant child duty and Bianchi being Bianchi, so everyone has just decided to trust Reborn to take care of them for now.

Besides, they are far, far up on the predicted attack list, so that doesn't matter right now.

"I gave Akito your thanks," says Decimo, as quiet as he can. He holds up a bright red stone for Hayato to take, so he does, looking at it curiously. It is similar to the stone Shamal has taken to carrying around in his pocket, and the pair of blue pebbles Yamamoto often plays with: small, bright, almost transparent. He doesn't know quite what they are, but he remembers seeing them _somewhere_ in the past, but where... "He sends back this, though I'm not quite sure why? He says you should give it to your mentor, whoever that is."

 _Shamal_ , he mouths to himself. It must be Shamal, since Miura (that ridiculously Namimori-ish _creep_ who had decided to _adopt him, because you are cute and you will die if you continue like this_ ) probably already knew about this, and Reborn… Reborn was simply out of his list of mentors for now. Hayato is too lowly of a hitman to consider himself an apprentice of _Reborn_.

It is a little funny, though. The twins had risked their lives to bring down the fucking stupidly tight security in the sovereign's (wait, since when did he start calling the man _sovereign_?) office, and then Hayato had risked his own to take out a bunch of useless files that could or could not be useful in the long term, but they had all risked themselves. He had offered the twins money, but they had declined; they had declined everything he had offered them and then given him a _pebble_ , of all things.

He ends up winning no matter what. He should be proud of this, but somehow he feels terrible about it. He feels no better than all those people that constantly bully two of the best students in Nami Middle simply for their birth location, or those people who constantly curse at Decimo for his surname. Even if he has done none of those, he feels _terrible_.

He looks back and sees the Osamu siblings biking away in the elder sister's bike. A little ways from them, the Kuroe twins are closing the storehouse's door with exaggerated motions (the only reason why he knows it is them is because of the long braid flying behind Takemi), so he pushes Decimo to walk a little faster (apologizing, of course) so they will not meet with them too early.

"How was the _meeting_?" While he refused to call the gathering a proper meeting, he does understand that Namimori doesn't quite work as other places do. They cannot trust authorities the way they should be able to, specially not if they have been just _covering up_ information the worst way possible -that is, simply blocking the memories like they were disposable everyday items. Disgusting Namimori. "Did you get anything at all?"

"They are Kokuyo children, but they seem to be under protection- oh, you don't know what that is." Decimo _hms_ to himself, and Hayato notices he is already on guard again. Whatever it is, apparently he can't speak about it out loud. There are many topics like that, so he lights up a cigar. Better be wary. "Well, every once in a while, certain people will appear or be born that are _brighter_ than normal-"

"Brighter?" Yamamoto has slowed up to walk besides Decimo, and the one who spoke was Reborn. The baby is looking at Decimo with a weird glint in his eyes. "There was a file that spoke about that."

" _On the brightness of the soul_ , or something like that? I thought it was some philosophical ramble, really," says Hayato. That was the file that Reborn took over to Shamal without even allowing him to read it. He had been annoyed at first, but then he had seen the hundreds of pages of blocks of text and charts that was the file and simply gave up. "So, what is that about?"

"Supposedly they are more _pure_ and it is harder to taint them? But they also get sick more easily, or something- like Takeshi," Decimo motions to Yamamoto, who makes a peace sign with his fingers, "or are plain weird, like Tsuna and grandfather." Decimo sighs. The topic seems to worry him, so Hayato makes a note to not bring it up ever again. "They are usually _protected_ by the LN or the Judge, and get special privileges if they have a good enough reason- actually, that's probably because most of them are _really_ talented at what they do, but most of us commoners are mere trash next to-"

It is then when the lights go out and they hear a scream coming from behind them. A scream, a bang and an unusually loud wind instrument, which leaves Hayato's ears ringing through the second it takes him to recognize the screaming voice as his club president ( _Takemi_ , who enjoyed mixing random chemical hazards to see how far the explosion or toxic fumes could reach) and the other second it takes them to turn around and _run_.

Yamamoto is faster, throwing Reborn back to Decimo's arms and unsheathing his sword (rusty under the light, with a dark blue glint that leaves Hayato feeling all _wrong_ ) in the moment it takes for him to turn on his heel. The baby bounces on Decimo's staff and lands perfectly on Hayato's head while he pulls out three dynamites with one hand and two small glass vials with the other. Decimo is already chasing after Yamamoto leaving Hayato behind.

"Hunt the sniper, Gokudera," Reborn tells him, to which he nods with a wince at the baby clinging to his hair. Close range, he can leave to the close range fighters.

He sees Akito kneeling by an unlit lighting post, taser in one hand with the other pressed to the back of his neck. A distance away, there is a blur of a sword and a staff and a wall of fire, past which nothing can be seen. _Damn_ , he thinks; if they can't get to Takemi, then they will fail anyways.

He can't get to Akito either, as a volley of small thin needles lands near his feet and on towards his senior's unmoving body. The low light doesn't allow Hayato to calculate very well the direction the needles came from, but he still throws his first three dynamites in the approximate location of the needle user. He can worry about Akito later -now, he needs to catch the sniper.

Reborn jumps off his head, but he doesn't care. He runs, climbs up rotten stairs and again up the roof of an old house (he has been spending an awful time up roofs lately); he evades another volley of needles and yet another, thick needle that reeks of almonds before he sees his opponent for the first time.

 _What the fuck_ , is his first thought. The second is _that's one ridiculous tattoo_ , but he has to evade a yo-yo from hitting his forehead before he can see it -or the boy- clearly. The wire still grazes him and makes an unusually deep wound, which leaves him with the startling realization that _everything_ in that stupid toy is a lethal weapon.

His opponent is already running again, so Hayato throws the two glass vials at the spot his feet should be when the vials land. The roof is old, the explosion small and there is a flash from somewhere to the side as the roof under the sniper collapses under him. He _hears_ a distinctive young, monotone voice curse while it happens, and Hayato wants to smile at the fact his plan _worked_.

Okay, so chemicals may be fun. He owes Takemi a lot, now.

Without waiting for the explosion to dissipate completely, he makes his way down inside the old house (inhabited, surprisingly. It was _really_ old and apparently lined up for demolition). Ignoring the rotting smell coming from the wardrobe (corpse, maybe. Hopefully animal, probably human), he proceeds to kick his way out the debris looking for his target.

Who isn't here.

While he looks for the sniper, the lights come back outside. When he finds a dirty, raggy old beanie near the _broken_ window, he hears the siren outside and rushes. When he sees Decimo and Yamamoto kneeling next to a mangled body, he curses.

He _should_ have stayed with Akito.

* * *

**009**

**Clue**

Three days, eleven attacks. Five the first day. Four the next. Two yesterday. This is the fourth day of Hibari Masato's personal descent into politician hell, and it is certainly as terrible as he assumed it would be. And, it has been more than a week since the Sawada children disappearance and Ietsuna's mysterious _illness._ Lying through his teeth is becoming tiring, as is keeping secrets from those he cares about.

He cannot involve Kyoya, though. He cannot involve anyone. He _must_ solve this on his own, for his people and his whole extended family's sake.

Which is why he finds himself with his most hated person in the universe, sharing a terrible cup of coffee in the afternoon fighting to stay awake. Kawahira has always known how to lull him to sleep -heck, he thought that was _his_ skill, but apparently he inherited it from the madman in front of him. He thought there wouldn't be any more terrible consequences of spending too much time near the man when younger, but apparently this is _yet another_ of them and he is honestly annoyed.

How he hates Kawahira. He will never admit to anyone he used to worship the ground the man walked in the past.

"I cannot say I have seen him," says Kawahira, pushing the blurry photo back across the desk with all the delicacy he can spare. Which is not much, considering they hate each other, even if they act with polite indifference for the masses. Politics. Hah. "Kokuyo has many people and I cannot be bothered to remember all of them."

"So I have learned," Masato says, smiling past his hatred. He _knows_ this stupid god knows the faces and names of everyone living, current and past, in the lands of Namimori, of course. Annoying _jerk_. "Could you perhaps give us a clue, or some hint towards whatever is it we could look for?"

"Hm, no, I do not think I will." Kawahira reaches to take another sip of his cup and his rings glint under the fake light of the office. Indigo, purple and yellow; only one of them belongs to him. "More importantly, I have heard _words_ of some curious business your Kyoya has been meddling around with."

"He is none of your business." He says, still smiling through his teeth. He wonders if it is about his missing files or the _mysterious_ clandestine meeting in storehouse 2, which is mostly his fault anyways. Not the missing files: that is partly Satoshi's, but mostly Tsuyoshi's for being so lenient with his reports; they weren't the main copies, luckily enough, or he would have to bring down justice upon Gokudera Hayato.

"Ah, but he _is_ my business, you see," Kawahira speaks with a lazy drawl, twisting the ring with the purple stone around his finger. Masato sees another two ridiculous rings and casually brings up his hand to cover his bracelet (Hell is dangerous, Kokuyo is dangerous). "We would not want him to... well, we would not want him to have an _unfortunate_ accident, do we?"

Masato looks towards Kyoya's deck, doing his best to not react to the hard eyes focused on him. _Unfortunate_ , right. Like Sawada Ietsuna's illness, maybe, or the old case of Yamamoto Hotaru's mysterious drowning. Ancient records of Sawada daughters vanishing from their cribs, Hibari children found mauled in the forest, Asari heirs with their bodies frozen in time. _Unfortunate_ , like the lives of those who walk into the old man's store.

"In case you are paying attention, your perpetrator is Shiraishi youngest," are Kawahira's whispered words, and Masato manages to catch a piece of his _haori_ before the man disappears off the window with a soft laugh.

Oh, how he _hates_ this man.

* * *

_-however, these places are highly dispersed; it is rare that one could find two in the same country (with the exceptions of those with great land mass, such as the US or Russia). As of now, I have visited Mt. Osore, in Japan, and Rapa Nui, in the Polynesia; I have my doubts on Athens (Lycabettus, mostly), Mt. Vesuvius and the Valley of Geysers in Russia._

_Natural Flame spots have historically, from my studies, been identified as mystical places, related to mythical or legendary events, with healing or supernatural properties. Usually they are high grounds, mountains or nigh unreachable locations for Sky flames, while Earth flames usually consist in valleys or rivers; for some reason, graveyards, cemeteries and other burial places seem to be also quite attuned to ambient Flames, which I am currently atributing to my old theory of Flame-energy conservation._

_There is a place that currently catches my interest, but due to the protection around said place I cannot mention its name. It is, however, attuned to both Sky and Earth flames; something I have not seen in my long time studying Flame theory and genetics, except in that of Jura. The difference is that Jura is completely Neutral, with a constant Flame-energy value which I assume is maintained by the Arcobaleno. This place I mention is in a constant fluctuation between three different types of Flames: Sky, Earth, and one which I haven't managed to identify._

_I am very curious, but sporadic visits are not enough for me to make a proper hypothesis._

_My following experiments will be on the dependency between Sky-Earth Flames (the individuals, not the types), though due to the Earth users' hunts centuries ago it may be hard to acquire proficient users of Earth flames. I believe the Simon are still hiding somewhere in this world, so I shall remain in Japan a little longer. I am looking forwards to discovering if_ all _Skies and Earths can use their parallels, and vice versa, or if Giotto and Cozart were unique in their relationship._

_I hope my luck will remain with me, and you if you are currently reading this._

_-Ines_

Reborn places the file back on the coffee table and crosses his fingers together (somehow. Chubby, baby fingers). Shamal, sitting right before him, still has his hands buried in his hair and a pile of Ines's -his _mentor_ \- research papers scattered around him. Hundreds of pages, divided by chapters and experiments, which were the result of Ines's life research and Shamal's early youth.

Reborn guesses (guesses, only) it must be overwhelming. The files were supposed to be missing, stolen by other Flame theorists by fragments when Ines was killed. Yet here they are, in Namimori, hidden away in a barely protected office. Mocking, really, like they are telling Shamal he is not worth enough to continue Ines's work.

The table is covered in papers. Photographs, charts, graphics documenting the ambient Flame (natural Flame, or something, the world's _soul_ ; Ines's was less of a scientist and more of a weird philosopher when it came to such things) in various places around the world and their effects in the users. Yet more documents, stapled together by experiment, were piled up in another corner, while the slightly more useless documents they had stolen where on the dinner table to the other side.

"It still doesn't tell us _where_ are they going," Shamal groans, defeated. He leans his head on Gokudera's shoulder, who shrugs from where he is going through the coded file with a pencil. Of course, Gokudera doesn't know a thing about Flames, so they make sure to keep their words as vague as possible. "Or what this _unidentified_ thing is- She isn't saying _anything_."

"Have you read through the last chapters?" Reborn asks, looking at the piled remaining papers neither of them have read. The problem is, they are scrambled without page number, with their words in code and they are completely worthless. "Maybe they hold the answer."

"Maybe, maybe not. We need to send them to a decoder that is _not_ Hayato." Clearly. And soon, too, since Gokudera throws him a hating glare that tells them both he isn't staying around much longer. He probably _could_ decode it with time, a digital file and a computer, but they have none and Reborn wants to get Shamal out of Namimori as soon as possible.

Shamal rolls his growing collection of colored pebbles around the papers with a bored expression, but Reborn can tell he is thinking about this issue. The attacks, the missing children, Ines's research. Ines's murder and the crowd of Flame theorists who would still kill for these papers. _Everything_ right now is just a little messed up.

There is a knock on the door before it opens, which makes a dozen mosquitoes raise around Shamal (wobbly, a tad dizzy looking, but still deadly) and Gokudera pull out a mini-dynamite. Reborn looks at the door, but he doesn't feel any sort of dangerous intent coming from the people outside, despite the smell of fresh blood coming from them.

Hide comes in, holding a blood-covered tonfa that is clearly Hibari Kyoya's. Yamamoto follows, gaze downcast, dragging his own blood-covered sword like it is made of lead. At Reborn's silent prompting, Hide holds up three fingers before slumping down in the entrance and curling up in a pathetic-looking ball.

"I hope neither of you are injured," says Shamal, already up and rummaging through his messy room for a first aid kit. Gokudera catches it and goes over to his Decimo, even when Yamamoto shakes his head with a tired sigh.

"Nah, but we sort of messed up-"

"It was more than just a mess up, it was a _disaster_ ," moans Hide, dragging his bloodied hand across Shamal's recently cleaned floor. "We got Hibari- _sempai_ after us."

" _Everyone_ got Hibari after them, not only us!" Yamamoto laughs and reaches to accept the rag Reborn hands to him. "Thanks~"

"How, exactly, did you get the devil after you!?" Gokudera yells, still trying to get Hide to give his arm to him. He takes the tonfa and throws it over to Shamal, who catches it for later inspection. "Decimo, I really need to check your injuries."

"It isn't that bad- I'm okay, Gokudera, I'm-"

Hide continues protesting, so Reborn leaves them to their bickering and looks back to Yamamoto, who is cleaning his sword. It is a _nice_ sword, but for some reason Reborn feels like it doesn't fit Yamamoto at all: too short, like a child's sword, really. The few times he has seen it, it has been stained with rust (blue, dirty blue), but now that Yamamoto is cleaning it it reveals a nice clean blade.

"Well, we stopped Hibari from going after the nunchuk girl, since we got direct orders from, like, everyone," Yamamoto says, cheerily. He slides a finger down the blade of his sword, smiling as it seems to _not_ draw blood at all, and before Reborn's own eyes the metal goes back to dull, rusty blue. "So he got mad and decided we needed to be disciplined- which is _stupid_ , because if he had gone he would have been in trouble!"

"The King is _terrible_!" Yells Hide from where he is fighting against Gokudera's tweezers. "Everyone is _terrible_!"

"They are _fine_ , Hide!"

" _Terrible_ inhumane peo- Gokudera!" Hide yelps in pain at what Reborn assumes is the disinfectant. He tries to roll away, but Yamamoto stops him with his foot. "All of you are horrible to me."

"You are worse- Oh, but we learned something nice!" Yamamoto cheers up and puts down his sword to pick up his phone. Reborn looks over his shoulder, where the DCB is keeping up their bets for who would be the next person attacked and who are the most probable perpetrators, along with a photo of yesterday's sniper. "So, the beanie we got yesterday? Shiraishi- _san_ sent her hounds after it."

"Hounds," Gokudera deadpans, looking about as interested in the topic as Reborn would be if he _didn't_ know that Shiraishi Natsumi is the one who searches for illegal outsiders.

"Yep, hounds." Yamamoto nods, and then shows the screen up to him. A lazy drawn map of Namimori Island, with a red circle in a blank space to the side of Kokuyo, shows up. "We have a location, now."

"An impossible to access location," Hide moans again.

Reborn _hms_ to himself, and then goes back to Shamal's coffee table. Under all the papers of Ines's research, he finds a list he got from Fuuta a few weeks ago when he was looking for potential _famiglia_ candidates (damn expensive, that kid). He scratches off three names and writes the date next to them.

At this pace, it is still about three days until the attacks get to Gokudera. They have time, still.

In his hat, Leon continues napping inside his cocoon.

* * *

**010**

**Ace investigator**

Five days after the attacks have begun, Kyoko and Hana find themselves in Hana's house under _strict_ _orders_ to not go out. Things have become pretty serious, and the lack of information is sending everyone in the LN into overworking for the safety of everyone else. As civilians, their only duty is to _stay safe_ and out of the way, so they can only sit there and do nothing, which is pretty sad in Kyoko's opinion.

Hana's house is pretty small compared to Kyoko's, nothing to complain as mother and daughter are the only two that live there since forever ago. It is a single-store house, with a shared master bedroom, a bathroom, a dining room attached to the kitchen and a small-ish room that serves as both study and guest bedroom. It is there where they sit, currently, with Hana twisting the dial of some radio-like device as they (illegally) listen in to the incoming reports of various groups of people.

 _-ing here, bridge clear, no corpses found yet-_ , so Hana shrugs and turns the dial. Static.

 _-s anyone know where am I, because I'm lost-_ , unimportant, static.

 _-ctim. I'm calling the ambulance now, it is another DC kid_. She leaves it there, presses some buttons on the device, turns up the volume and sits down to listen. Kyoko stands to attention, pen posed atop her notepad ready to take notes.

It has been like this for the past few days. They are honestly a little tired, but the attacks are they only clue to Tsuna's and Fuuta's disappearance, if Hana's mother can be believed. And, well, they aren't just going to sit around doing nothing under house arrest, especially not when Kyoko has the worst headache inducing spirit in her head right now.

 _You know the kid's name_ , comes Fuyuka- _san_ 's voice, all the way from across the city, sounding tired. She didn't come back last night, but Hana was hosting a guest so it was okay. If it happened again today, Kyoko would take her back home for the night. _What number is this one_.

 _Nagumo, firstie. There are ten missing, so the, uh… fifteenth?_ Ten what? Hana and Kyoko share a look, while still-static Daemon says something in the background (Kyoko ignores him, because he is stupid). _Found his partner, knocked out as usual. The cameras?_

 _Offline- Changing channel, follow protocol_ please. She sounds exasperated, and Kyoko giggles while Hana goes on a frantic hunt through the channels. They don't have a bunch of radio devices that tell them when one channel is getting more activity, or at least ten people to help them out like Hana's mother does. Sadly. Finally, they find the sound of rapid typing along with Fuyuka- _san_ 's humming. _Are you sure it's only him._

 _Definitely_ , comes Yamamoto Tsuyoshi's bitter voice. Kyoko thinks he sounds better working at the sushi restaurant. _Seven missing, by the way. Mochida, third year._

 _I am missing a corpse, find them,_ Fuyuka- _san_ yells into her workplace, to which there is some vague agreement murmur through the radio. Hana shakes her head, whispering something that sounds suspiciously like 'queen monkey'. _Well, I guess we sh-_

Kyoko's phone sounds _so loud_ both of them jump, startled. Hana clicks off the radio device and covers it with the heavy fabric in time for Kyoko to retrieve her phone from her bag. She checks the screen ( _mom_ ), and picks up warily. Her mother _never_ calls.

" _Ryo was attacked_."

Both Kyoko and Hana are out of the house before Michiko can say anything else. She whispers a _thanks_ when she feels the layers of protection Daemon builds around them, but she does feel they are rather useless. They are grade schoolers, and everyone attacked so far has been a middle schooler. Well, they aren't completely free of danger either, what with Tsuna and Fuuta _still_ missing, but-

They don't speak on the way to the hospital and make it there in record time, before the sun has started to go down. There is a large crowd around the hospital, with few key figures Kyoko recognizes standing around in attentive guard, but they are allowed through without major problem.

They pass Hidetada hitting his forehead against a wall with repetitive, rhythmic _thuds_ and the baby Reborn sorting through a pile of papers. They pass a crowd of Nami Middle students gathered around a door, and run past the slumped form of a white-coated doctor. They shouldn't be running, but Kyoko wants to see her brother, and nothing is going to stop her!

They finally find Michiko standing outside a door and Kyoko leaves Hana behind as she throws it open. Her brother, the sun of her life, is lying there, looking at the ceiling with dull eyes and his throat wrapped in bandages. His leg is being held up by some weird thing Kyoko has only seen in TV, but his arms look safe ( _safe_ ) and whole.

" _Onii-san_."

She steps up to her brother, _her brother_ , and brings his hand into her own. The tears gather at her eyes, but she has to be strong, strong for both of them. She can't cry, not now, not when her brother is weak and frail and he _lost_ a fight.

"Kyoko," he says. His voice sounds scratchy, as if he was speaking through a sore throat, but he is smiling up at her. "I lost. _So sorry_."

She squeezes his hand and brings it up to her lips. He is missing six teeth, has a broken leg and an injured throat, but what probably hurts him the most is his pride. And she can't heal his pride.

 _She can't_. But she can damn well help.

* * *

Hana walks the halls of the hospital, letting Kyoko and her family have their time. She tells herself she _doesn't_ care about Ryohei, but she knows that is a lie. Just like she cares about Hide for being Tsuna's brother, or about the other crazy lady that is Enma's sister, she also cares about Ryohei in a distant way; not enough to go into the room, but enough to come with her best friend to the hospital running when she is under house arrest.

She pulls out her phone and looks for the DCB. There is a featured thread for the attacks, made by her own mother, so she checks that one out after posting the latest name. People are asking if anywhere is safe or if they have caught the perpetrator yet, but there is no official answer; in fact, the only official messages are those that tell Nami Middle students to stay at their houses and watch out for any Kokuyo student wandering around.

She scrolls up. The blurry pic of the glasses kid is still there, as is the ranking. People are _still_ voting for who the next person attacked will be, but since there are so little names left there isn't much to see. Hibari Jr. is, of course, at the top of the list (probably acting as bait), followed by Hidetada and Kusakabe who are the only two high-ranked DC officers that haven't been attacked; though that doesn't matter, as since day one non-DC members were also in the target list.

"Little officer," calls a voice from in front of her. She looks up to find the topic of her thoughts, one Hibari Kyoya, looking for all she knows like he is going to war. He is alone, which is no surprise.

"I have a name," she responds, out of spite. She _knows_ Hibari knows her name, just decides not to use it. Be it because of their parents' bizarre relationship or because of any other reason, she doesn't know, but it is honestly really annoying to be compared to every other _brat_ in her division.

"Mistress's child-"

"I'm leaving," she interrupts, walking quickly past the older boy. _Annoying_ people and their annoying personalities-

"Kurokawa Hana," he finally says, to which she stops. She will give him a few seconds of her time. "Tell the mistress to rest; they are overworking. This will end today."

And just like that, he is gone. Hana doesn't bother to turn around when the window slides closed behind her, instead continuing on down the hall and four quick turns to the right until she is back where she started. Actually, she should be calling Hibari Sr. about his son going against explicit orders to not go hunt the perpetrator (because that's what he is doing, she won't lie to herself), but if she does that then she is going against the DC Chairman, and she doesn't know which is worse.

She is making plans to go back to get Kyoko when her phone rings.

" _Hana, have you-,_ " her mother, without even bothering to stop typing into her console, yells something at the room she is in that sounds suspiciously like 'fetch'. " _Hana, have you seen Kyoya-_ san _?_ "

"I saw Hibari- _san_ , he said you need to rest," she drawls, waving at a teary Kyoko who is waiting at the end of the hall. They both start walking back to the entrance. "So come home and bring dinner."

" _I can't- How about we get Masa-_ chan _to treat us today, since I am working._ "

"No."

Kyoko laughs besides her as Hana bickers with her mother (usually so regal when in public, but a complete _child_ when with family. No wonder they get along so well. Queen monkey). They walk past Hidetada, staring at a blank spot in the wall now, and the baby who throws them a small greeting. They walk past the Kuroe twins, racing on wheelchairs, and past the girl with the gothic lolita dress, the boy with the guitar and Hide's friend Naito Longchamp speaking in hushed tones.

They make it outside, where yet another ambulance is surrounded by heavy guard. Hana recognizes Kusakabe Chiyo sobbing into her son's shoulder, and a gloomy looking Hibari Masato speaking with an even gloomier Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. Without thinking much about it, Hana drags Kyoko over and stands close to her father to listen in to the conversation.

"-missing. We sent in Satoshi, but-"

"That's fine, Natsumi will look into it. We can solve this before he comes back."

Masato sighs, pressing his thumbs against his temples. "If only Kawahira stopped being so stupid-"

"Well, he is our god-"

Kyoko and Hana share a look and scramble, disappearing into the crowd. Clearly, they need to make something about this themselves if they want it to get anywhere.

First, they need to plan.

* * *

**sky interlude**

**Spade**

"Sorry, Reborn, I need a moment," Hide says, not waiting for Reborn's nod before walking down the hospital halls in search of his target. He is quite used to it already, to this hospital: bright, white, reeks of chemicals and rot, the place where so many people come to die and-

little hands wrapped around his arms, small voices begging for mercy what will they do to us, Hide-

He shakes his head and ignores Giotto's recoil when he enters the thing's field of presence. He ignores Giotto's fear and desperation, how he tries to pull him back to safety, ghost and caramel and keeps walking, leaving his own familiar spirit behind. Leaving his own identity behind, for a few minutes -he will be fine, it is fine, he will be okay.

Fear, is the first thing he identifies, followed by familiarity and confusion. Why are you coming here, probably, since he has never willingly approached Tsuna's companion, ever, if it is not with Tsuna. Confusion, then acceptance and a drop of amusement, all heavily muted by what he assumes is the fear of whoever it is possessing.

He evades Kurokawa Hana and Hibari Kyoya's eyes with all the training of a child raised in Namimori, bringing him face to face with the elevator in the back of the building (rot rotten indigo covered fingers and children screaming). He turns, ignoring the wave of respect that comes from the thing (though he is confused, the thing doesn't respect him) and draws his staff in the next corner.

Sasagawa Kyoko stares up at him, holding a bouncy ball between two fingers. Static sends a pulse of pain down his spine, but he ignores it -Kyoko's headache must be stronger than anything he has ever felt, after all.

"Why is that thing with you?" He doesn't greet her, doesn't need to. She knows why he is here, he knows why she is as well (Ryohei, covered in blood, smiling with gaps in his previously perfectly straight teeth). He does drop his guard with his staff, but only just barely; Kyoko doesn't drop her stance.

"What thi- you mean Daemon?" She tilts her head to the side, cutely, and he resists the urge to hug her. She is just adorable, even if she is currently acting host to the being that has haunted his house for the past three years. Protected him, yes, but that doesn't make it any worse. "He came to me after Tsuna-"

He feels the thing try to send a reassuring wave to both of them, but it fails and ends up being a messy surge of pain and hatred. Kyoko hisses, bringing a hand to her head, while Hide does his best to ignore it and bring his thoughts back to Giotto's constant apathy. It fails. Whatever the thing is, it didn't mean for Tsuna to be kidnapped, nor is it its fault. He had been counting on it to protect his little brothers, but now...

"So it isn't with Tsuna?" He feels the panic pooling inside him, anxiety bringing him under at the sheer horror of the realization. There is no Giotto nor Tsuna to fix him, and he feels terrible at depending on his ancestor and ancestor to keep him well balanced. "But then- then who protects them?"

"I- I don't know," she admits, pocketing her ball and looking away. He reaches to hug her, needing something like a physical or emotional support right now, which is not here, and she hugs him back. "I am so scared, Hide-nii...!"

"I- I will find them, Kyoko- I-"

The thing wraps around them, in a weird embrace made of comforting static, and it takes him far too long to realize they are all a pile of hate and regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **NOTE** : I'M LATE but I have a good reason. Partly it is because I'm currently in holidays, so in hometown where it is impossible to get a decent internet connection, but also I have a new computer so my notes for this whole story are away in the other computer I left at the other city. Ten hours away. Yay. So now I'm having found being with my family, constantly mocked and being compared to serial killers and criminals and for not having facial expression (: Fun stuff. So yeah.
> 
> Next chapter will also take two weeks, so sorry. Last chapter was named after Mukuro's minions, but this one is named after Hibari (Gwythyr was one of Arthur's court members and whatever, rival of Gwynn; the name means victorious or conqueror), and it is all Namimori and conspiracies and research. Pretty fun, not. Next one is Mukuro and Kokuyo and it is gonna be great.
> 
> Hana being a mistress's child is a huge part of why she's Tsuna's friend (father-less children. Kyoko also falls here, since her mother doesn't like her father much). Also, it was an idea born from me playing with OCs too much until they got their own back stories and then being like 'ok why not'. When your Ocs write themselves then they get scary and you get to cry when they die. Which will be... soon, hopefully.
> 
> If you find any mistakes, I hope you will point them out to me! Thanks for all the comment, kudos and whatever, you guys are _great_. I hope you can wait for a little longer for the next chapter (: Also, go read Wyrvel's stories @ FF.net because they are great and thanks to them for mentioning this trainwreck of a fic!


	15. wild hunt: side B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A group of convicts play a game and a pair of kidnapped children... play another game. In 4 acts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNINGS** : Usual things, shitty cohesiveness, other things. I need a new keyboard.

* * *

**wild hunt :**

**gwynn**

* * *

**006**

**Game**

" _WOOHOO_!" Ken screams and flies from one building to the next. His hands are covered in drying blood, clothes disarranged from the last hunt from today. There is a bag of candy in his hand they took from one hit, spoils of war it doesn't seem he will share with anyone.

Today was... good, even if the ridiculously strong middle schoolers keep getting stronger and stronger by each number they hit. Number 16, a girl with an interesting fashion sense by the name of Pantera, had managed to draw first blood in the fight against Ken. Chikusa would like to say that he was careless, but he was _not_ : the girl had noticed them before and reacted accordingly, not allowing Chikusa to use his tranquilizers in time.

He would need to up the dose. Clearly, from here on they would meet more dangerous children, and while Ken and M.M. are really strong themselves, they were trying not to draw attention to the fights. Since Chikusa was acting as support for now, it was _his_ duty that the targets didn't call for help or that onlookers didn't approach, so...

"Keep _quiet_ , won't you!?" M.M. yells from where she is trying to keep up with Ken, her movements restricted by her clothing of choice. Well, it is her first day in Namimori and joining the hunt, so Chikusa understands why she would want it to be perfect. If they are seen now, it would all be for nothing.

Sighing, he brings the switch back up. After watching the streetlights return to the area, he disappears behind a building and follows the still bickering duo.

It is the eighth night, and Fuuta is _so tired_. Not only he wants to go home, but Tsuna is also unbearable without Daemon to ground him. Oh, it hadn't been so bad the first few days, but now it seems that all the weight of everything finally caught up to him and he just... collapsed. Usually, such words would mean lack of energy or a terrible mood, but with Tsuna...

He becomes insufferable.

"I'm bored," Tsuna says, once again. Fuuta woke up a while ago after a surprisingly relaxing couple hours of sleep (which is rare, lately, as Mukuro tends to simply invade his dreams at times and at others he gets nightmares) and it is Tsuna's time to take a nap, but he has been rolling around for the past... long while. "Fuuta, I am so bored."

"I know, Tsuna." Oh, he knows. After what feels like the thousandth time Tsuna has said the _same thing_ , he knows it pretty well. He could almost recognize by memory Tsuna's subtle movements that mean 'I want to say a thing'. "Read your book."

It is what Fuuta does when he is awake: read rankings. Re-read rankings. He likes rankings, so at times he will write down all the rankings for a single person, and rank more things, and write them down. He hides them later, because it would be no good if they were found, but they are just that: rankings. It has been a productive kidnapping, for him, but apparently not for Tsuna.

Tsuna, who rolls over once again, his pacifier hanging from its chain from his neck for the first time ever (Mukuro had _forced_ him to wear it, or he would take it away; Fuuta doesn't understand why Tsuna doesn't wear it, it is just a pacifier), and reaches for his book. He opens it in a random page and starts reading.

Out loud.

" _The arms race_ ," he drawls in articulate Italian, " _that went through the later half of the twentieth century was not, in anyway, good for the world. The Cold War in general was a terrible waste of money from both poles and their orbit countries-_ "

"Tsuna."

"- _and lets not even mention the extreme measures some nations took to keep their economic monopoly and control over the territory. However, though it was pretty worthless and a real pain to the world, the underworld of Italy flourished under the conflict-_ "

Fuuta groans, recognizing Daemon's words for what they are, and leans in to close Tsuna's book on his face. If he has to listen to the spirit's lectures on the Mafia and how the Mafia rose to power in _every single conflict_ the world went through, when Daemon isn't even here, then he would rather listen to Tsuna complain he is bored. Between Daemon and Tsuna, he prefers Tsuna, a hundred times over.

He is pretty sure he heard Kyoko say once that if you called Daemon's name three times before a mirror, he would appear and lecture you. Maybe he needs to find a mirror for Tsuna. Or an exorcist, because Tsuna _needs_ to get his hyper dependency on the spirit treated somehow. Not now, but later.

"Is that all?" Both brothers whip around at the chuckle to see Mukuro leaning on the door, a smirk on his face. Which is weird, because he shouldn't be here at this time -Fuuta keeps the time, and it is not Mukuro time. "I wanted to know more."

"Unfortunately," Tsuna says, rolling atop his book and using it as a pillow, "my dear brother does not like my wonderful voice."

He speaks in such a perfect imitation of Daemon's accent and tone that Fuuta lets out a high-pitched, frustrated whine and hides his face in his book. He is _done_ , so _done_ with Tsuna and his Daemon-withdrawal, _take him away_.

In fact. "He is bored, please take him away," he says, looking imploringly at Mukuro. He ignores Tsuna's protest, but he does block the book with his own; since they are both oversized books, it probably ends up looking like a rather stupid fight. "It is _your_ fault!"

"It is _not_!" Tsuna yells, already raising his book for another strike, but then Mukuro is there and holding Tsuna up by his collar like a disgruntled cat. He struggles and bats his hands, uselessly, at Mukuro's face. "Let me _go_!"

"No, I don't think I will," he says, wrapping an arm around Tsuna and holding him up like that. Tsuna is _small_ , smaller than Fuuta who is _also small_ , so even when he continues struggling it is impossible. He is stuck. "Children should sleep at this hour."

"This is my game hour." Tsuna pouts from where he is dangling under Mukuro's arm, arms crossed and glaring. Fuuta huffs -of _course_ it is game hour, Tsuna is a spoiled brat. "I am _bored_."

Fuuta remembers, of course. He _is_ Tsuna's roommate, and while Fuuta himself is pretty weird what with making things float and hiding candy and gun ammunitions under things, Tsuna is _more_ weird. Tsuna, who can stay up until early morning the following day because he is playing Monopoly with Daemon, or who is allowed to miss class because he is the sovereign's board game companion; Tsuna who spent long hours teaching Fuuta, Lambo and I-pin the basics of chess, checkers and _go_ because Hide wouldn't play _shōgi_ with him, _that_ Tsuna.

So it isn't much of a surprise when Tsuna's eyes brighten and he looks up at their kidnapper, all hope and trust and _excitement_.

"Hey, you know how to play games?"

Which is how Fuuta finds himself in the main room, sitting besides Lancia on the couch while trying to keep up with the crazy competition rules his brother and the madman decided to play with. It is something like a bet with really high stakes, so he needs to listen really close, but he is really more worried about the fact that Lancia looks bored out of his mind and Mukuro's smirk hasn't disappeared.

Then again, Tsuna is all narrowed golden eyes, now. It goes both ways.

"Summarizing, best of three. You can chose the games. If I loose, you can do whatever you want with us," Tsuna is saying from his spot sitting on the ground. Mukuro sits in front of him, and the both of them look so stupidly elegant in their ragged clothing and surrounded by dusty pillows, Fuuta has to wonder.

"If I lose, you are both free to go, and you can take Lancia with you," Mukuro says, motioning to the older man like he was something he found in the ground. Which is what probably happened, if Fuuta has been reading properly between lines. "He makes quite a good bodyguard, I would know."

"Deal." Tsuna nods, and doesn't even blink when a low table appears between them with a stack of cards atop it. He flips the first one, smiling at the ace of spades in his hand -of _course_ it would be the ace of spades. "No cheating."

"Of course not, dear Tsunayoshi."

Both of them shake hands and it begins. The cards deal themselves, and it takes Fuuta a few moments to realize that they aren't even playing a proper game. They are playing _Carioca_ , what the actual hell.

Later though, Fuuta would admit those were the three most terrifying and nerve wracking games he has ever seen in his life.

* * *

**007**

**chance**

"Do they ever go anywhere on their own?"

Chikusa looks at M.M., who looks frustrated enough her hair seems to stand on its ends. Then, he looks down at the pair of twins walking around: Kuroe Akito and Takemi, Numbers 15 and 12 respectively. They left the shady-looking building they had spent the past hour in, hour both Chikusa and M.M. feel like a right waste of time, a few minutes ago and they were far enough from the next people that Chikusa believes it would be a good moment to strike. Except, not, because from what he can tell, there are still some relatively dangerous people lingering close-by.

There are _so many people_ around. Sure, most of them are _probably_ far enough they would not make it in time if M.M. was to strike right now, but they also have to think about what to do _after_ that. Numbers 15 and 12 aren't the only ones they are supposed to hunt today, and if they time themselves properly, then they should be able to erase four more names off the list.

"I don't think so," he finally admits quietly, loud enough for M.M. to hear but not for their targets. Or, so he hopes, since they _do_ have to hide low again when the male twin throws a sharp look in their direction (abandoned building, single floor. They had chosen it because most Namimori citizens didn't seem to accept the building _was_ there, according to his informants. Good enough for them). Neither of them seem _really_ strong, but then again, Chikusa's reference for physical and mental strength is built around Mukuro and Ken. "We should take the boy first-"

"No, no, that will get attention to us. We need them both at the same time," she says, holding her clarinet close to her chest as she looks around. Some bike, some bridge, the storehouse about two hundred meters away. There are two higher-ranked groups around that they need to stay away from, too. "Know how to separate them?"

"An idea." A really dangerous, chance-relying idea. "We will need to run afterwards."

"I always liked doing things fast," M.M. says, licking her lips. There is that mad glint in her eyes that always makes Ken rant about how _evil_ and _cruel_ women are, which is... wrong, as the only woman Ken actually speaks to is M.M., who is M.M. and thus, cannot be compared to other people. Like Mukuro, who is also an unique, except M.M.'s uniqueness is related to her being an actual, terrible human being and nothing to do with her skills at everything.

Chikusa shakes his head and, with all the details he can, proceeds to lay out the plan for their attack. M.M.'s eyes glow brighter with each word, until she is almost giggling at the idea of destroying people -her sight, however, rarely leave the pair of twins who are now whispering to each other in hushed tones.

M.M. leaves the safety of the abandoned building's roof and Chikusa readies a blank needle to throw at the lighting post they have been watching. He has one shot to bring the electricity down and another shot to immobilize Kuroe Akito. While he is pretty sure he can do both without problem, the issue is what if Number 15 poses to be a problem to him? He is not weak, but he is not strong, either.

He waits. It shouldn't take longer than a minute for M.M. to get in position, so he aims the blank needle to the box. Ken hates it when he makes things explode, so he doesn't get to do it often, but since Ken is taking a break he can do whatever he wants today-

At M.M.'s signal, he throws the needle. There is a bang and the lights go off, then a yell and M.M.'s laughter covered by the target's scream. He _hopes_ M.M. doesn't kill the girl; they don't need blood, just teeth, and even then they need to get her to _talk_ first.

There is some loud _crash_ near him, which should be Chikusa's own target, so he throws two needles in quick succession to Number 15; as expected, the boy evades the first and walks right into the second's path. Hah, shame on him, they _do_ need more training. Definitely not the Vongola's, but then Vongola had a huge number of non-fighting members. That kind of Mafia are the worst kind.

He is about to go down the building when he sees a shadow of a swordsman (Yamamoto Takeshi, Number 2) blur past, closely followed by Number 3 and, damn, he hadn't expected them to be so close.

His mistake. His honest mistake.

For some reason, the stakes of the games have been upped. Between yesterday's Carioca game -some Latin American game Mukuro picked up a while ago that lasts for too many matches and can go on for hours- and today's Jenga (Jenga, really), the stakes of the game bet have evolved into some convoluted mess that Ken can't make head or tails of.

Ken doesn't even dare to ask why. Even Lancia is quietly listening in to Mukuro and Tsunayoshi's conversation with disguised interest, and Birds called his minions back a while back to pay more attention to it. The murderer twin is off somewhere, locked up because they don't trust the menace to wander around on its own, and Chikusa and M.M. are on hunt duty for the day.

"...but I don't see any point on it, of course," Tsunayoshi is saying, rolling his pacifier between his small fingers like he wouldn't care less. "It is just a thing the town does, I guess?"

Mukuro takes great care to push a block sideways and into his waiting fingers before answering. He taps the clock they somehow managed to find between yesterday and today, giving a new sixty seconds to the next player (Ken, unfortunately. Tsunayoshi goes next, then Fuuta, then Mukuro again) before deigning Tsunayoshi with an answer.

"It _is_ pretty worrisome the town would do something like that, don't you think?" He asks, holding up the block to Ken so he will put it on the tower again. Precision is _so_ not his thing. "Sentient cities are not something that should exist, normally."

"Yes, well," the small, tiny Arcobaleno's eyes don't leave Ken's hands as he tries to balance the block on the impossible tower they have built so far. It is the third Jenga match, and there are still two to go, because apparently Jenga is too short and boring to play a single match. "I believe it has to do with keeping the Flames clean, like... not Night-tainted-"

"Wait, really?" Fuuta asks, lifting his head from where he was leaning on Lancia's shoulder while waiting for his turn. "Then why is Daemon allowed to be around?"

"Daemon is special," Tsunayoshi says, waving his hand in dismissal. Ken taps the clock and he is immediately back to the tower, looking around for whatever block he can snatch easily while also leaving the tower on a terrible state for Mukuro's turn. "He doesn't move much when in Namimori, and he rarely shows up before other people or he would have probably been kicked out-"

He goes quiet as he takes the block, hands trembling with effort. Games like this are not Tsuna's specialty or so Fuuta admitted by the second match, _since Tsuna_ _has small hands and he prefers to plan ahead_ , but Mukuro did need all the advantage he could have now. The first game had been a _massacre_ for Mukuro, who prided himself of being good at mind games and controlling outcomes, but Tsunayoshi had simply gone through the card game with unusual speed and winning almost all games by a great margin.

The kid is _creepy_ , but not in a Mukuro-like creepiness. He is like some weird mental child of Chikusa's on-the-spot planning and Mukuro's manipulation, but with no practice. Also, no physical skills at all, which is _weird_ as all children his age Ken has seen in Nami Island so far have had at least a _little_ training in self defense.

"So anyways," he continues once the block is safely in his hands and he has passed it on to Fuuta, "it isn't _always_ , like... I have met some people with horrible backgrounds who haven't gotten erased so far, and it doesn't seem like they will anytime soon. Either because they are too useful or needed for something else, dunno, like... uh, the hound- Fuuta!"

Fuuta yells and reaches to hit Tsunayoshi after the tower falls. "You left it weak, it is _your_ fault!"

Mukuro laughs cheerily and Ken can't help but to smile. Two to one, they have won again! He starts putting the tower back to how it was at the beginning while their two kid hostages fight about whose fault is it they lost, while Lancia adds another victory to their name. Damn, they are _good_!

"Next question, then," Mukuro says, probably already going through his mental list of questions for the pair. They are quite a lot, but since they are on a question-per-win game right now, he needs to think.

"Go on, I will try- Fuuta, get off!"

"Never!"

Ken laughs at the pair of children. They are not hitting each other with books now, which is a plus, but they are still hitting each other with pillows. Weird kids, really weird, but they do hold answers to a lot of questions they have about the town and they have to make the most of it. Besides, they cheer Mukuro up, in a weird guy that neither Ken or Chikusa can do.

"Well then," Mukuro starts, making both children stop fighting and look up at him with curiosity. Weird as they are, they are still _children_ , even if they seem to understand that Mukuro isn't precisely the most normal of humans. His eyes narrow and Tsunayoshi's hand moves an inch to the side, subtly pushing Fuuta behind him. "Earlier on, you mentioned you knew about me from before?"

Ken has always been connected to his animal channels. It is a thing he cannot change even if he wanted to, and he had had years to get used to the influx of information he got from his heightened senses. Smells, sounds, sights; he is more animal than human when it comes to them, but he is also human and thus, can understand the underlying _things_ beneath all of them. None of his animals are able to understand human emotions, and somehow the Estraneo made it so he could have the best of all species as a passive bonus when in his human channel. Useful, but confusing; really confusing, specially at the beginning when he was unable to distinguish between the smell of fear and that of excitement.

However, right now he is able to read the information he gets from his surroundings, set it side and pick up what is most important. And, if he is reading correctly, then what Tsunayoshi is feeling as of now is not _fear_ for himself (wilder, more instinct than thought), but _fear_ for Mukuro. Which doesn't make sense to him at all, because people are scared _of_ Mukuro _,_ not _for_ him.

He leans back so he can have all of them in sight. Fuuta, holding on to Tsunayoshi's arm with desperation. Lancia, looking at Mukuro with what could almost be worry. Mukuro, completely focused on his target with his supernatural eye. And Tsunayoshi himself, who blinks a few times with clouded eyes.

"You mean you- you don't know?" He sounds horrified, like he wasn't expecting that question from Mukuro, and also kind of sad. So, so sad.

"Know what?" Mukuro asks, tilting his head to the side while trying, and failing, to look harmless. Tsunayoshi makes a distressed sound and holds on to his pacifier. He throws a desperate glance at Fuuta, but then looks back at Mukuro and seems to cover his fear with determination.

"Who you are. Where you come from."

And then Ken has to flee, because Mukuro's usual hatred vanishes and he doesn't smell like anything Ken is used to at all.

* * *

**008**

**Mysteries**

_"Namimori holds too many mysteries," Daemon said, one evening when he was sitting (floating) on the bed, one history book open on his lap and another geography atlas open besides him. They were having their usual lessons on world history, which is all Daemon likes teaching and what he resorts to whenever he is bored and tired of everything else, so Tsuna knelt besides the bed with his school books open to pretend and some more to actually study. "I will tell you some, but others you must learn on your own."_

_"Alright, that is fine," he said. That was okay, back then, because he was eight and still young, and Hide was still not involved in any really dangerous business. Just the usual, just the same. "I will probably have to learn some of them, anyways."_

_"You will be told some, yes. When you come of age, or maybe earlier, your grandfather will tell you about some of them." Daemon floated down to sit besides Tsuna, and Tsuna leaned on his mentor's shoulder without a care. It had been a while, by that point. They were comfortable with each other, but not so much as to be comfortable speaking with each other the way they would later. "Today, I will tell you about Kawahira."_

_"The old man in the wandering store?" The store that is there once a week, two fridays a month, one tuesday and one saturday. No more. The store that takes away memories in exchange of artifacts or luck, the store of the old man that gave Tsunayoshi the curse for life. "What_ is _he?"_

_"He is the ruler of the land. A minor god, who chooses who has a right to stay and leave, to live and die. He gives power and takes it away like he has any right to it," Daemon spoke, stroking Tsuna's hair with care. Tsuna closed his eyes, because he was tired and Daemon's voice was comforting, and he always wanted someone to tell him stories to bed. "He chooses the people who keep the world and Namimori together, and also chooses who will keep those people in line. He is the final voice in_ your _life, Tsunayoshi, and Hidetada's life as well."_

_"But why?"_

_"This is what I do not know. There are some he cannot control, though, especially those meant to be something in the future -you, for instance, may be on your way to drop off his control zone." Daemon smiled, looking at the pacifier Tsuna was holding in his hand with wonder. "Yes, that. The Arcobaleno curse is one of those things he has most control over, but not the people attached to it. Mostly because they are too strong for him to have any say on them, really, as is the case of me and some others-"_

_"Hide?"_

_"You brother is an anomaly even to Kawahira. He is a city heir, though, so he is technically off the radar- ah, but there is Hibari Kyoya who is on constant watch." There, Daemon brought up the family lines diagram they had put together a while ago, where the seven founders' lines were drawn with exquisite detail. "Another one under watch is your Kyoko, and Shiraishi Nagi, both because of their Flame affinity."_

_"Mist. Like you." Tsuna traced the deep blue line in Kyoko's name back up to where it joins with her mother's, and then went up to that of Theresa Spade. "And, like the Miuras?"_

_"In a way. The one you should pay more attention to is this one." Daemon pointed to the bigger blue square, where Shiraishi Kaiji's name was dull and crossed over with a gold line, much like Asari Kou a generation back. "He is similar to you in the sense he is fated for more than Kawahira could deal with, so-"_

_"He was erased?" Tsuna looked up at Daemon, who looked back with a bright smile. "Or he went missing."_

_"He went missing. And with good reason, too- Shiraishi Kaiji was born with Flames unfit for control yet with easy access to them, in a way like Hidetada and yourself were. The eldest twin is also quite uncontrollable, but her Flames have never been at a thought's reach. I assume he was sent away before the land corrupted him."_

_"But the land corrupts everyone," Tsuna said, holding up a small, flickering flame of Black. "Even us."_

_"That is correct. Even we are tainted by the Night, but look at it this way." Daemon waved a hand to get rid of the family tree. In its place, a small diagram showed up which looked sort of like that of the elemental circle of the Chinese. "Can you tell me what is wrong here?"_

_"...Mist and Rain are the closest to Night."_

_"Yes. And from what you have seen before, what exactly does this mean?"_

_Daemon went quiet along with Tsuna, who laid his head on the bed deep in thought._

* * *

 

"I know this is going to sound weird, but," Tsuna starts after one Lancia has gone to put Fuuta to bed. He has already lost his match, so he is technically answering two questions, now (which he does not want to, but rules are rules. He did not make the game). Mukuro sits besides him, staring blankly at a point in the wall, so after a quick look Tsuna continues his tale. "You are supposed to be Shiraishi Kaiji." He reaches to take Mukuro's hand, but then thinks better about it. "One twin to Nagi and son of Shiraishi Natsumi, the mother of Kokuyo. So, I guess it is a welcome home?

"You probably will not believe anything I say now, but, well," Tsuna gulps -he has never been good at dealing with people, especially not someone who is like a lighter version Daemon. Or darker? Maybe reversed? Daemon may be Tsuna's brainmate and mentor, but he is _confusing_ and can rarely be understood unless he wants to, and definitely not when he is angry or confused, and Mukuro is like Daemon but in a complete opposite way. Whatever that means. "The official story is that you -that is, younger you- went missing due to unknown reasons when you were four-"

"You don't believe that, do you?" Mukuro asks. He is still staring at a nondescript spot in the wall, so Tsuna makes a vague negative sound as he shakes his head. "You knew who I was and what happened to m- to him."

"Shiraishi Kaiji was sold off to human traffickers," he replies, bluntly. Keeping secrets right now is not what either of them need, and the story has been told by Daemon so many times since the time at the cruise, he needs to get it out somehow. Besides, Tsuna is not made for huge dramatic scenes and such -that is for main characters, like Hide or Kyoko. Tsuna is just a side character, so he needs to keep his lines short. "It was blamed on your- Shiraishi senior, but Mister K was also involved, we think.

"It was not... a huge thing, really? People worried a little, but most of them forgot about it within the month. Children often go missing in this hellish little town, in case you have not realized just yet." Tsuna holds on to his pacifier, drawing on to it for comfort. Kokuyo is a dangerous place to be, and he misses Daemon; he misses Fuuta, as well, even if he is sleeping right next door -Tsuna has not actually been completely alone since three years ago. He feels lonely. "People here... they go a little mad, paranoid, unwilling to accept things, and they do not wish for their children to have a similar same fate, you see."

"So I do," Mukuro says, leaning back on his couch. "So in the end, I came back and I am just following the path set for me, am I not?"

"Maybe." At this point, Tsuna is not sure. He cannot see Mukuro as anything else than a child broken by Kokuyo and whatever else happened to him, so much like Daemon Spade, so much like all those people he has seen walking with blank and unseeing eyes into Kokuyo to never come out again. If there is some _important_ thing for Mukuro to do, he is safer here, and Tsuna cannot ignore the familiar feeling of Mukuro's Flames right besides his arm. Familiar just like Fuuta, like Byakuran and Enma, and that both scares and pleases him a little too much. "I am sure you are missed, if you look close enough."

_Even if only by six other people_ , he thinks, humming to himself. His pacifier pulses in his hand, reacting to what would in the future be one of its companion, so he forces it down. Six other people, five of which he knows. Only one to go still.

They sit in comfortable silence for short minutes. Tsuna knows Mukuro wants to ask more questions, but for now he just wants to give himself -both of them a moment to relax. So many thoughts and dreams running through his mind, some of them his, some of them from somewhere else, and he is so tired of having to sort through his memories to look for what is real and what is not.

Part is Daemon's, another part is his. And there is a huge part that comes from the pacifier that he does not want to see or even know.

It does not take long for Ken, with all his bright and never ending sunshine, to run into the room carrying a bleeding Chikusa. M.M. walks in shortly after, yelling at the both of them with all her breath. Tsuna cannot really hear them, though and, as Mukuro goes off to treat his injured minion, he allows himself to fall asleep.

* * *

**009**

**fake**

M.M. is definitely blaming Ken for setting the trail of people after them. Or rather, she wants to blame him, but can't, because she understands really well that their failure was both of their faults _somehow_ , even if that makes her bitter. M.M. doesn't do failures; no one in Mukuro's team is supposed to do failures. A simple failure could mean _death_.

Or, well, having your photo taken and published for all to see, like what happened to Chikusa (dubbed Most Wanted Number 3). Not that M.M. knows where, exactly, it was published, but apparently it was: Chikusa had taken a look at his -stolen- phone this morning and decided to sit off today's hunt. Which meant M.M. had to work with Ken, which she _hated._

_Mostly,_ she hated running for her life with the mutt close behind, followed by _actual_ mutts and a group of dangerous-looking students (lead by Target Number 1). That, she hated, and the problem was she couldn't even defend herself because if she stopped for just one moment then she would be caught.

Their chasers weren't without their wounds, though. Before the chase around downtown had begun, M.M. and Ken had managed to knock out their required targets _and_ incapacitate some others. She couldn't believe that the group of _children_ had endangered their own lives to wait for them, but well, she couldn't believe most things in Namimori either way.

Finally, _finally_ the entrance to Kokuyoland comes in sight, and M.M. laughs as she throws back her hoodie. The smoke bomb flies with the motion, exploding on contact and giving them enough time to vanish past the illusions.

Rokudo Mukuro looks down at the chess board with furrowed eyebrows. His fingers are twined together, with his chin resting atop them, and his elbows atop his knees; the epitome of a thinking position, in which he has been stuck for the past quarter of an hour. Or more, he does not quite know. The sense of time is a little messed up right now, since there is no one but him and Tsunayoshi in the room and there has not been anyone else for a long while now.

Tsunayoshi looks… pretty much the same. His eyes are locked on the board, hand lazily twirling his long-since sacrificed Queen, pupils darting from corner of the board to corner with the preciseness Mukuro has learned he has only for games (and occasionally history). At times he raises his free hand, as if planning to do something to the board, but then he lets it fall again.

There are no moves left.

Well, there are. There are… two moves left, and neither of them wants to do it. Neither of them wants to speak up and concede, either, because that is sad, and _neither of them_ will agree to a draw in this situation. It is a case of mutual _zugzwang_ and he hates it.

It is a draw.

A disgusting, unnecessary, supposed _tie breaker_ draw.

Mukuro feels highly disappointed about himself and his skills: he has hundreds of years of memories stored in his mind, out of which about half belonged to people who either played strategy games for fun or _needed_ strategy to survive their own terrible daily lives, yet none of those memories prepared him for the wit of Sawada Tsunayoshi. Who is _ten years old_ and still somehow managed to beat him in his favorite game once, barely lost another time and finished with a textbook _zugzwang_ , with next to no effort. Crazy kid, doesn't even begin.

Less than disappointed, he feels like death. What is the point of making a trip to hell and back hunting for memories if, in the end, you will still _lose a damn bet_?

Giving up, he reaches over and flicks his middle finger at his King, cringing when it falls to the board and shatters. Tsunayoshi blinks at the board, then at him, then throws the Queen at his own King and screams.

"That. Was. _Terrible_!" Which, maybe it was, except Tsunayoshi is _ten_ and no ten years old should have any logical way to keep up with Rokudo Mukuro when he is going for the kill -in games, though, because Mukuro has a rather constricted set of morals which is topped by an aversion to hurting children, current company being the exception. And he hasn't _hurt_ either Fuuta or Tsunayoshi asides from the first day, not _him_ at the very least. "Did we really spend a whole night playing that to end in a _draw_?"

" _Zugzwang_ are rather pathetic," Mukuro admits after vanishing the board back to the Mist. He throws himself next to Tsunayoshi, who is currently muttering into a pillow about failures, terrible games and _how long can I be away before I start becoming_ stupid. Unfair, in all honest, because Tsunayoshi is the smartest _ten years old_ Mukuro has ever met, followed closely by Fuuta himself and then Mukuro himself at that age (and he concedes defeat in that). "Now, then. Our bet?"

"Right, right-" Tsunayoshi nods and then nods off. If Mukuro had any less imagination, he would think he has overworked the child, but Mukuro is a damn imaginative person (he is an illusionist) and there is _no way_ Tsunayoshi is simply sleeping.

He chuckles to himself and manifests his trident, aiming it straight at Tsunayoshi's heart. He only needs a _small_ cut, but well, he is not going to pass up an opportunity to make a show of things.

Above all things, Rokudo Mukuro is an illusionist with dramatic tendencies.

* * *

**009.b**

**a road to freedom**

_The road to hell is paved with good intentions_ , someone once said; a smart person, probably, except they forgot to consider one thing in their calculations. One terrible, small thing that made everything else seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things, that ruined everything some people thought they could do, think or say without even trying.

_The road to hell_ is actually a boat, or a ship, and hell dwellers cannot sail the sea. In fact, they cannot condone the idea of sailing the sea: born to be from hell, to hell, by hell, they spend years preparing themselves to never leave Hell itself. Why would you want to leave, if there is everything you need in this small land?

There is a Lord. There are Inquisitors and Secret Keepers. There are Jailers and Prisoners. There are Judges and Defendants. There are People who know what and where they are, and then there are people who do not know anything at all.

Sawada Tsunayoshi fell in the third category the moment he was born, and he was not planning on moving from there. He did not dare question if he was the prisoner or the jailer, either, because why should you ask yourself something like that?

No one questioned the Lord.

_Namimori is hell itself,_ someone had once said -who, it did not matter, did it? Things stopped mattering so long ago, since things started to matter, and from there on and until they simply were not. Why worry about something as irrelevant as who was the first to teach you a lesson like this? In the end, it could have been anyone.

' _Nami Island ranks second in worst places to live,'_ a voice says somewhere closeby, and Tsunayoshi listens. ' _It also ranks firsts in cities most likely to survive a worldwide disaster- that_ is _curious, isn't it?'_

' _There is nothing more disastrous than Namimori, Fuuta,'_ had been his -their, as they were two, but also one- answer; ' _Except maybe a time collapse.'_

' _What even is that.'_

' _I have no idea, but you are not staying around here long enough to learn.'_

**Daemon** had said that, and now it was _Tsunayoshi_ 's turn to do something about it.

The Stars were not made to be confined, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **NOTE** : Happy birthday to me, happy holidays to you, the tERM IS OVER IM FREE. The past few months have been the busiest in my life, I swear... I tried to get this up earlier -mostly, I tried to fix mysteries because I really hated it as an episode, dear Lords... But well, now that both wild hunts are up and my term is done, I hope I can actually pick up the plot. Speaking of plot, B010 is missing from this chapter because it is so weird it is almost a Lancia Interlude.
> 
> I am really, REALLY sorry for my lateness, but school is terrible. I have lots of new eps written for this, though, so hopefully I can get back to weekly or at least biweekly updates. I also have a whole new fic idea involving zombies and I am thinking of editing the ~single father AU~ for uploading, but I will be focusing on this and WfO for now. At least until February! Also, this chapter is terrible and I feel I spent like three months trying to make it better but it didn't work.
> 
> THANK YOU for being around still! If you are! Coming up next, a future Arcobaleno and a convict become great friends, three times in one. See you next year!


	16. battle of a town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Right before it begins...

**010**

**a secure road**

Lancia likes children.

He always did like children, even Mukuro, who decided to screw up his life by killing his whole Family. Maybe, it was because he had grown used to Mukuro -small, creepy, constantly smiling as he was-, but maybe it also was because he simply was Lancia, and Lancia liked children. And children deserved to be liked, loved and cared for.

All children deserve chances. Be it multiple chances to show their worth and self, or for them to make up for past mistakes, all children had a right to be forgiven. That may also be why he likes Kokuyo as a place, not to live, but their ideals and thoughts about children and freedom and work.

Lancia likes it here, at times. At times, when he feels like he will lose himself to the black void that has become his heart, he will sit outside of Mukuro's direct range and and watch. Watch, from somewhere he will not be seen, how Kokuyo runs and lives, how Kokuyo moves on in their odd, ancient fashion with no interference from the outside world.

Other times, he feels he will be consumed by rage, despair and another unmentionable feeling. He feels the black tar spread over his heart, his soul and his life, and then he will go back to Mukuro and ask him for _something to do_ , because Lancia likes children, but he also likes doing things.

He feels like he is proving something, to himself, to Mukuro, to his deceased Family, whenever he does something for Mukuro. _I am still surviving_ , he says to Mukuro. _I am living on_ , he says to his Family. _I am atoning_ , he says to himself, even if he does not quite feel like he is atoning, and more like he is building up on things to atone for. Lately, it seems as if he has stopped caring about that altogether; he tries to do things things right, but always messes up somehow.

Mukuro has no dangerous things for him to do, really. _He_ himself seems to be trying to fix something, even if it is in the worst way possible to humanity, but probably the only way he knows how to. _No one_ taught Mukuro the basics of being humane, so Lancia has taken it as sort-of his duty while he travels with him.

Which will be until he dies. Or, so he thought.

 _Sawada_ Fuuta (della Stella) runs a few feet behind him, keeping up with Lancia's own faster-than-average walking. They have left behind Kokuyo a few minutes ago, after what seemed like hours of evading half-living guards, masked children and a few wary looking adults. Once, Fuuta pulled him down (far too low) to avoid being seen by a black-haired boy with a resolute pace. Another time, Lancia had to pick Fuuta up as they walked past a woman with a paper umbrella arguing with a girl who felt _so much like Mukuro_ they both had gone on guard upon seeing them.

 _Hibari Kyoya_ , Fuuta whispered to him once the boy had gone past. _He is probably here looking for us_ , which left Lancia wondering why was Fuuta hiding from him if the boy could help him get home. Agreeability was not something he had seen on Fuuta so far, at least not with Mukuro and his commands.

After they had walked (as quietly as possible) past the two fighting women, Fuuta had told him to keep an eye out for dogs. They made a great detour to get past a couple of canines, so whatever it was the child worried about had to be pretty serious.

Not that Lancia is weak, he can totally take on a couple of hunting dogs with no problem, but Fuuta was not Ken, or Chikusa. He did not seem to be fighting able, his only display of physical prowess being his handling of the giant book he carried behind him, and the occasional twitch of his hand looking for a weapon. Weapon he clearly did not have with him, so Lancia _needs_ to protect him, for Tsunayoshi's (and his) sake.

They make it to the bridge in what seems to be record time, and only then does Fuuta allow himself to rest. Lancia watches in vague interest as the boy's eyes seem to lose focus when looking back at Kokuyo, then shake his head as if confused about something. He does not see anything wrong with Kokuyo or Fuuta himself, so Lancia does not worry about it anymore than necessary.

"We should head to Midori," says Fuuta once he has composed himself, motioning in the general direction of Midori with his free hand. "We -well, Tsuna really- we know someone who can get you out if we ask nicely."

That makes Lancia frown -why only Lancia? If they knew someone like that, why not simply get out themselves? _What about Fuuta_? What would Mukuro do if he found out Lancia left _without_ Fuuta della Stella? What would _Tsunayoshi_ do?

"I was told to secure _all of us_ a way out," he says after an uncomfortable silence. "That includes you and Tsunayoshi."

Fuuta shakes his head. "Tsuna cannot leave, and I need a permit. You are here illegally so it should not be so hard -Kikyo _works_ on moving illegal people in and out of the city."

Lancia stares as the informant fixes his hold on his book. An smuggler _by trade_ , in a place like Namimori? How does that work, he keeps asking himself as he follows Fuuta into the campus town, thinking he is more and more confused by the island by every passing second.

Still, he loves children, and he has a child to protect.

* * *

**011**

**first strike**

Hibari Kyoya reaches Kokuyoland an hour before sundown, after making sure to evade cameras, patrolling people and his own committee members. Following a well practiced road of sliding down hills, climbing trees and knocking out nameless people, he is _almost_ completely certain he does not have a dozen enforcers after his trail. Hopefully. Alright, just 70 percent.

As he was not _completely_ certain, for the last few minutes of his trip he takes a great detour into Kokuyoland through the forest (where he meets a… thing, unknown species and unknown status). He breaks into the abandoned amusement park by climbing a forgotten brick fence, eroded past the point of usefulness, and then wastes a few minutes knocking out hounds and masked children for his own ease of mind. Easy, but still dangerous (why is that one holding an _actual sword_? Is that one of the forgotten Asari or Yamamoto children? No, they are too young, so maybe an student? Or a _zomb_ \- no, those don't exist).

After attaching his Father's bracelet to one of the hounds' collar, he quickly makes his way past the park. His intuition tells him he needs to go to the supposed Health Center, so he does that, keeping watch over whatever could be on patrol or ready to attack. He should, honorably, call out his presence, but he has never been honorable and neither is anyone in this ridiculous, nonexistent place, so he does not do that. When in Rome and all that; Kokuyo has never been the most lawful of places.

He enters a hallway through a broken window. To his right there is a wall; to his left, a stairway that should lead to the second floor, a knocked out dog and Sawada Tsunayoshi.

He looks _safe_ , if not particularly healthy; the uniform makes him look smaller than his standard, baggy clothes do, and the huge pole he is holding almost doubles him in size. His eyes are narrowed and _blank_ , almost like he is actually unconscious instead of wide awake and moving. But he is not moving- no, he is now.

Kyoya blocks the first strike with his tonfa and gets annoyed.

"Tsunayoshi," he greets after two blows, his tonfa hooked on the bladed end of the pole -curved, a scythe- and his leg keeping the other end in a lock. Tsunayoshi is way more proficient with the edged weapon that Kyoya suspected, but his movements are sloppy and mechanic. As if he knows the dance through books and pictures than actual training, which Kyoya knows he doesn't have. Tsunayoshi rejects fighting.

"Hibari-san." And with no further greeting, Tsunayoshi leaps back, dragging the tonfa and attached hand with him, and Kyoya can only blink curiously at his twisted wrist. The tonfa hits the floor with a loud _clang_ , making both Kyoya ane Tsunayoshi cringe, but they don't give themselves even two seconds to recover before they are lounging at each other again.

'What are you doing?' He asks through his fighting, because last time he checked (and he checks daily), Tsunayoshi was not a fighter and not an enemy to Kyoya. Tsunayoshi was a strategist, an scholar and an obsessive gamer, not a fighter, and _definitely_ not an enemy. _Most_ definitely not _Kyoya_ 's enemy too, so either someone has brainwashed him like the ridiculous Judge does to most people, or Tsunayoshi has finally broken under the pressure of being a Sawada.

The latter would be the _worst_ outcome possible. Kyoya was promised Sawada Tsunayoshi, after all, and that includes making sure he doesn't _die on his watch._

Many blows were exchanged with no words, but finally Kyoya manages to get away Tsunayoshi's scythe (really, who allows a child to fight with such a double-edged weapon?) while still having one tonfa- make that no tonfa after Tsunayoshi kicks it away with a high round kick. Then come the fists, palms really; Tsunayoshi has a weird, mostly awkward fighting style that holds one palm with curved fists outwards, while the other arm is bent behind him with the palm facing backwards.

It reminds Kyoya just a little of Hidetada's in-training single-handed staff style. Not in the style itself, though it does have some similarities, but in the way it is fought: mechanic, fixing small mistakes and forms through it, keeping a hand free for another weapon that should be there yet is not. With Hidetada, it is a gun. Kyoya would not be surprised if it turned out Tsunayoshi was also expecting a gun.

Gun or not, it is sloppy, and Kyoya has had far longer to train than Tsunayoshi ever did. Incapacitating him is not hard, but he feels guilty at the boy's small cry of pain when he twists his arm.

"Oya, you won," says a voice from behind him, and it is the only thing he hears before the world goes black.

* * *

**012**

**Discovery**

"You _what_?"

Sawada Hidetada is many, many things. He is cruel at times, he is overly sweet at others, and at times he is particularly nonsensical. However, he is quite aware of some things concerning Namimori that should _not_ be crossed, no matter who you are or what you wish to do. That is the truth of the city and, whenever he sees something that goes against his beliefs, he wants to fix it.

Unfortunately, fixing this is not as easy as it sounds.

"I know that it probably is a really weird idea-"

"Are you completely _crazy_?"

Doctor Shamal's apartment is the same as it was the day previous. Empty mugs and cups are littered across the floor, tables and chairs, with pots of coffee, sugar and chocolate powder stuck in curious places of the room. Hayato sits inside a circle of stacks of papers, taking notes in whatever piece of blank paper he has at hand's reach, while Shamal himself breaks his head over a bigger stack of paper in his hand; they have been at it for a while, now. The night lights out in the street have a dim light and no sound comes from anywhere in Namimori, since it is well past midnight and _Reborn_ has things to say.

Hide has found himself in Doctor Shamal's apartment once again, for the third time in the week. It is not surprising, as Hayato practically lives here and his plans involve Hayato and Takeshi a lot; Takeshi, unfortunately, rarely feels comfortable leaving Takesushi and his house alone, so he is currently not here (though he does call every hour, because this is the first night Hide stays out of Takeshi's house since the start of this whole thing).

After the attack on Tetsu-san, things had become a little hectic. Hibari (Kyoya) had vanished from sight and everywhere else he tended to appear (Boards, the occasional phone call, the constant feel of security blanketing over patrolling member of the DC), and Hibari (Masato) had summoned all his forces to find his wayward son. Nevermind that those forces were supposed to be helping look for the intruders, and for Tsuna and Fuuta, and whatever: adults were formally useless as of this night. _All_ of them, including _sensei_ who had entered the ultimate panic mode and locked her family in the hospital, including the Sawadas. It had been a moment of stupidity on Hide's part when he had refused to stay with his family, because that meant he had to stay with Reborn and Takeshi.

Staying with Takeshi was alright. Staying near Reborn had started to become more and more troublesome ever since Hide had met Kyoko -and Tsuna's spirit thing. In hindsight, Hide should have understood that supernatural babies would be able to sense Giotto's moodswings.

"Hidetada, just _listen_ -," and then Giotto would get angry, disappointed or simply sad and Reborn would pull back, jump away from both Hide and his aura of ghostly emotions, and stare.

For the past hour, Reborn had been trying to explain why, in the name of all Flames, spirits and Children, he had decided it would be a good idea to _rank_ the capabilities of Namimori Middle students. _All of them_ , from base strength, to intelligence, to overall skill; the students of Namimori Middle had been ranked in about ten categories, out of which most of the intruders' targets always scored in the top thirty.

Had it been _only_ strength, the results would have been obvious; in fact, the list the intruders had been using _had_ been the strength ranking, which has gone down to the top four. They had been steadily (and _easily_ , even) taking the strongest students of Nami Middle, breaking the defence lines towards those with less physical skills, making the invasion a tactician's nightmare. Not that Hide understands many tactics: that was Tsuna's and Hayato's specialty. Still, considering the way Namimori is run…

The fact remained that those list were a public menace even if had they been fabricated; however, they were _quite real_ , since Fuuta himself had made them and Fuuta is, still, missing. Which brings them to the core of the argument, because-

"You _brought them here_ ," he realized a few minutes ago, which had, of course, brought Reborn to the defensive. Oh how Hide hated this whole issue right now. "You brought those _intruders_ here!" Though if he understood correctly, it had been Fuuta, with his never ending ranking ability, and the people who had run Fuuta into Namimori. If it wasn't for those greedy mafia jerks, then Fuuta would not be here, and the intruders would not be here and, most importantly, _those rankings would not exist._

"Decimo!" Hayato yells, taking Hide's arm and pulling him back. He wants to take Reborn and dump him in scalding water or in a _volcano_ , because if it was not for him and his _stupid_ mafia, he would not be in this situation! "Please calm down and listen to Reborn-san, I am sure he has his reasons!"

Hide always did have a thing for listening to his friends, but this is something he will not give up in. His _family_ , his _school_ , _his_ _town_ …! How can he protect his town when he is the one bringing the problems in? Since when was Sawada Hidetada so uncaring of others? Is building his mafia army so important, that he would reject his teachings, his _vow_ as a member of the Disciplinary Committee?

No, it is not.

He slams the door into Hayato's face in time for Giotto throwing a wave of uncomfortable warmth into the room, and he stalks off. Maybe he needs to calm down -no, he _really needs_ to calm down, but then he cannot control Giotto. Maybe, he needs to talk to someone, someone who will listen who is _not_ Takeshi, because _Takeshi and Hayato are next_ , and what is he supposed to do?

He blissfully forgets he is ranked between them. He is a _Sawada_ , they are supposed to protect the others.

When Miura Satoshi opens the door to the Miura household, Hide ignores him, pushes him aside with a shoulder and sits down next to Haru. Miura… complains, loudly, as he always does (because Miura Satoshi detests the Sawada family, or rather, he detests Sawada Hidetada), but then he vanishes into wherever Miura Satoshis vanish into when they do not want to face reality. Probably outside, or the kitchen; who knows.

"Hide-san, are you alright?" Haru places a glass of juice in front of him, but he doesn't take it. "You look quite distressed." She is sitting there, with a pair of knitting needles in her lap and a long, _long_ piece of blue handcraft. Though she is wearing sloppy weekend clothes, Hide thinks she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

Though, she did ask a question. "I am kind of mad, right now," he responds, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. A delicate copper chandelabra hangs from a hook, flickers of green lightning coming from it; decorative, but now that he sees it after learning everything that is wrong with Namimori, he wonders why is it so easy to unhook.

"We are all mad here, or something like that." Haru sighs and resumes her knitting. There is no television or media entertainment in this house and there will never be, so she has had to take on lots of hobbies to pass her time. Not that there is anything wrong with that, because somehow she was still at the top of her class and the Middle Schools grade rankings.

Hide is happy that Reborn didn't think to rank Namimori _Island_ Middle schools when he asked for the ranking. Though it probably exists somewhere, deep inside Hibari Kyoya's desk, ranking the Island's people as a whole would be disastrous; at least, Haru is outside of the targets sight, as is Irie Shouichi (the most annoying) and the others from Tsuna's group of older friends. He is almost completely sure Haru ranks really high in overall skill, if not because of her handcrafts, then because of her weapon training.

"In Kokuyo," he responds to her statement. Kokuyo is _insane_.

"Just like my dearest cousin is," and she knits, knits and knits, and time passes and passes. The silence is overwhelming, but comfortable in its own way- wait.

"Hibari-san?" It would not surprise him if Haru knew where Hibari is, after all. Their relationship is kind of weird, what with her father being so close to the landlord, and really everyone in this town calls everyone else ' _cousin'_. It would not surprise Hide if they were all related from a few generations back -he knows Takeshi, and _Irie Shouichi_ , are related somehow to the Sawada family. "How do you know?"

"Irie-san said so, he has been keeping track of the entrances to Kokuyo." Haru motions to her cell phone, where the screen shows a few messages from both Irie and Shiraishi Nagi. _Status report_ , they say, all of them, which is still rather confusing because Hide knows Hibari Kyoya knows how to hide from cameras and human sight.

Irie Shouichi is one scary person, alright. Maybe not even human. That does make him curious, though:

"Why?" Last time Hide checked, Irie Shouichi always put himself and his friends before everything else; there was no reason for him to report to Haru, since their only connection was through Tsuna and Hide himself. Unless Haru wanted to know because of her father's job, or something.

"Well, he is worried about Tsuna-"

"No, I mean, why is he telling _you_?" He doesn't mean to sound accusing, but if he does then maybe that is showcasing his true feelings. He does _n_ ot want Haru involved in whatever is wrong with their city, no matter what her role in the so called city council may be in the future. She -and Tsuna- deserves better

Haru seems to have understood his true words, because she puts her needles down to look right into Hide's eyes. Piercing, wide mossy eyes with sparks, the same color as her necklace. Green, green _lightning_.

"Tsuna-kun is a friend of mine, Hide-san," she says in a stone cold voice that is Miura Satoshi's trademark. "I will not stay here while Hibari-san, Nagi-san and my _family_ put themselves in danger with no care for consequences-"

"You don't know what you will be getting into," Hide replies, already standing up in response to Haru fisting her hands. "It is- it is more dangerous than everything that has-"

"I don't _care_!" She yells, throwing a sloppy punch that Hide catches with his hand. Definitely needs more training, is his thought when she pushes him back with her elbow. "You and Father are _always_ keeping secrets from me, and I don't _care_ how dangerous it could be! It is just so _unfair_ -" With each word, she grows more and more frantic, and he has to grab both her arms so she doesn't keep trying to punch him. Who knows what could happen if she did, really, Hide is not above hurting a woman for his own safety! "I was born and raised here, same as **you** , yet I am not allowed to get involved like _you_ or Irie-san or Nagi-san or even _Kyoko_ and I am _not_ going to keep quiet about it, Sawada Hide-san!"

Can the neighbours hear her, he wonders. He feels a little detached from reality, from the reality where Haru -gentle, fair, beautiful Haru is yelling at him, the reality where his brothers are still missing, the reality where his tutor was part of a scheme that put his whole family in danger. This reality, this _terrible_ reality with just one way out-

"We just want to keep you safe," he says, and then has to dodge the chandelabra lest it falls on his head. Both of them stare at it, at the still sparkling stones attached to it, at the hook and at Miura Satoshi, who quietly points at the door with his leftover knife.

He yells something unintelligible and slams the door behind him, once more leaving the safety of his acquaintances and friends to seek safety elsewhere. Maybe if it is not Haru, then it can be Takeshi.

* * *

**012.b**

**unexpected**

Reborn was throwing a tantrum.

At least, that was what it seemed like to Shamal, from his point of view. His house had become his worst nightmare (a sausage fest) and his dear old friend was throwing a tantrum. One chameleon in a coccon curled up on his head, one _real_ gun whipping around like a melee weapon, three fallen containers where Shamal had been doing his experiments; it does not matter what Reborn has to say, it was a tantrum.

He had quieted down when Hayato's phone rang, breaking the chaotic noise coming from Reborn's side of the room. Apparently, anything the children did out of norm was enough to bring Reborn to his senses, and Hayato did not receive calls from anyone since he had cut contact with his family, and even less he he had come to Namimori. Bianchi, at times, other times little Lambo, both of whom were sleeping; and, it was known to both Shamal and Reborn that Hayato did not _get_ calls from the outside anymore, not since he had resigned himself to Namimori and joined the uncommunicated network that was the local phone lines.

"-sorry about it, really, Decimo was really mad," he is saying, still multitasking as he always did. Who had managed to get Hayato's phone number, Shamal does not know, but Reborn is paying too much attention for it to be anyone safe; as Hayato's first mentor, he is _supposed_ to keep an eye on him, even if he does not want to. "I will go pick him up, if you- no? I thought you hated him, why would you-"

He is pretty sure that, had they been able to tap into the line, Reborn would be doing just that. Unfortunately, listening in on others' conversations is a breach of security and privacy, and only the local government is allowed to do that. Reborn had learned that the hard way, and Shamal had learned it from Reborn; they are not so suicidal as to make a complete enemy out of Kurokawa Fuyuka.

That _is_ one fine lady, though. Too bad she was head over heels for laziness incarnated, or Shamal would have tried to woo her. _Too bad_.

Whoever is past the line keeps talking and Reborn gets antsy. His hold on his gun is trembling and Shamal has seen that enough times to know his dear old friend is too curious for his own good. But, he doesn't try anything; again, not suicidal.

Not _so_ suicidal, because Reborn did break a few rules daily, and Shamal kept a daily relationship with _deadly danger_ over at Namimori Middle. Hibari Kyoya is terrifying, and he is only… however old he is. His age is a carefully guarded secret. Same as many things in Namimori. Why are they _here_ , again?

"That is- Alright, I will keep an eye on it, but why me?"

Both Reborn and Shamal look at each other when they hear the answer. That sounds like trouble if nothing else did in this world (which was a lie, _everything_ was trouble in this city). He knows what Reborn will ask of him later, probably. 'Keep an eye on Gokudera,' he will say, and Shamal will be stupid and whipped enough to comply. Inés raised him well.

_'Because you are the only one who can.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is... shorter. I'm trying to get back on track with this, because it may be planned and mostly written out, but it still needs a shitload edits. Also, it is summer and people keep asking me to do things with them... At this rate we will be out of Kokuyo in a few months.
> 
> Also, extra 1 has been updated.


	17. a prelude to war

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People start planning a war. Outsiders get pulled along.

  **013**

**final numbers**

‘ _I should not have gotten out of bed today,_ ’ Hayato thinks and repeats in his head with each step he walks. When he opened the door, when he headed to school, again, only to remember there was _no school_ , when he went to the main street of Namimori to try and get more cigars. Of course, no one sold him cigars, and even if they did, then they were only low quality and _terrible_. People did not smoke in Namimori much.

People did not do many normal things in Namimori.

Still, that he remembers to repeat the sentence in his head means he is at least a bit normal. He should have _not_ come out of the house today, that was for sure. Reborn had said so, because he could be targeted, and Decimo had said so, because he was _worried_. Yamamoto… hadn’t said anything, because Hayato didn’t meet Yamamoto this morning, even though he had seen Decimo fixing buttons at the door of the baseball-freak’s house, waiting.

He should not have gotten up or gotten out of the house, that is for double sure. Namimori makes him uncomfortable on a good day, and this past week has been actual hell, making the hellish city seem even _more_ hellish, if that was possible.

He remembers Miura’s warning from last night, that he should keep an eye out for everything. Apparently, Hibari Kyoya was missing, which meant things were getting serious… more serious. The protector of Namimori was called a protector for a reason, and since he is missing, it only means more chaos will befell the city. Hayato does not know what to feel about that, and he doesn’t know what to feel about the advice he got.

 _If you fall underground, don’t try to come back up_ , the message reads in his phone. What is that even supposed to mean? What underground, what would happen if he tries to get back? Is _underground_ an actual place or just a metaphor? What is going on? Will they ever get Tsunayoshi and Fuuta back?

“Number four,” a voice says from behind him, and he turns around with one hand already on his gun and the other reaching for his dynamite. A boy stands there, hair bright like the sun and wearing what Hayato recognizes as Kokuyo Middle’s uniform. “Gokudera Hayato,” the boy continues and, the moment his foot hits the ground in a quick step, Hayato is already throwing one of his impact bombs and running the _hell_ out of there.

A girl holding a clarinet with both hands is at the other side of the alleyway, so he breaks to the right and up a conveniently-placed trash container. Not looking back, he throws another bomb, this time a smoke one which will hopefully give him enough time to climb up and get lost in the crowd, even if it is with his eyes closed.

He hears feet running behind him across the roof of the overly small convenience store and feels a gust of wind near his back, followed by a sharp pain in his shoulder. Hayato hisses, wondering how they found him past the smoke, but he doesn’t miss much time in his thoughts. He needs to get out of here, _now._

“Gokudera- _ku~n_ ,” the girl sings. From the alleyway, then; the boy is behind him, left is a painful fall and right… is also a painful fall. Forwards, then, except ahead is another _painful_ fall and the small, Namimori midday crowd who are supposed to be kept in the dark about all this.

Another _thing_ (a knife, maybe?) slashes at his back, so he drops into a knee and rolls to the right. The boy has become… feral, a wild look in his teary red eyes and nails longer and thicker than they should be by nature. He has a few seconds to aim and shoot his gun, but hesitates -what was the punishment for public gunfight, again? Can he shoot one with one hand holding a lighter, is that not dangerous?

“Soft!” The yell and kick come out of nowhere, for Hayato. How does someone move so fast while still a human? It cannot be possible; nothing of this could be possible, yet there he is, holding his _bleeding_ , _broken_ hand close to his chest. “Good, good, you Mafia scum always are one-trick ponies-”

He throws a small capsule at the boy’s feet and it explodes into some pinkish red powder. The boys yells, screams as he leaps back when his outer clothes catch the powder, starting to disintegrate. A wonderful trick Shamal and Hayato had been working in for a few days, now, even if it is not perfected just yet. The clothes stop being eaten away just as Hayato recovers his gun and lighter from where they had fallen.

Holding things with a single hand, with the other being broken, is quite uncomfortable. He hadnt't realized this yet, because really, _why_ should he? He is a ranged fighter first, meaning he does _not_ usually engage in close range fighting; when he does, it is because he is sure he can win, not because he got caught out of guard by someone who, logically, should not be able to see.

Hayato shudders. Whatever this boy is, it is definitely not human. Maybe he would have a better chance with the girl, but he doesn't know what the girl's trick is; at least he knows the boy has a knife, probably, or just really sharp nails. That is the most obvious answer in this case.

"Ahaha, that is quite interesting," comes an amused voice from down the alley and Hayato has to resist a sigh of relief at the obvious presence of Yamamoto Takeshi. If he is here, then Hayato has a chance of getting out alive, even with a broken hand and an injured back.

He didn't often have that luxury. Being injured by an hostile as a solo freelance hitman was something one could not afford. No back up. No supplies. It was why one of the first skills one learned when acting solo was to gauge the enemy's strength and make an objective calculation of the chances againt them.

Hayato was overconfident, but not stupid. He knew there was no chance he could win against a close range fighter both faster and stronger than him, not without getting out incapacitated for an unknown length of time or taking out the big guns -explosives, in his case-, which was something he _could not do_ , because of the civilian presence below the roof and the particular laws about street fighting and use of firearms.

Having lived for more than a year in Namimori made Hayato quite aware of what he _could_ and what he could _not_ do. It was a heavy weight and an even heavier handicap, but Decimo was a member of the one group that kept order in town, and if Decimo's underling was the one breaking the rules? Quite terrible and annoying, much like the golden haired boy's reflexes.

Hayato throws up his broken arm, because he _needs_ the other one and he needs his _eyes_ more, to block a hit that never comes close to him. A wooden staff shatters on impact, quickly discarded in favor of a mid-length metal baton, and then Hayato is weakly pushed back to be replaced by Decimo in complete DC _regale_. Which meant only the jacket, but it still made quite an impact -on Hayato.

The boy whistles, shaking his hand. "Number three, Sawada Hidetada, is it?"

"No," Decimo replies, switching the hold on his baton with a quick twirl. There is a shriek in the alleyway and a thunderous impact, followed by Yamamoto laughing, but that is not important right now. "DC Officer Nameless. You have attacked our people, now we retaliate."

And with that, he rushes forwards, mace straight to the boy's face.

* * *

**014**

**startled townspeople are not nice**

It was a small house in the middle of the 'what the hell is happening' district of Namimori, seemingly normal and quiet, with only three inhabitants most of the time. No one knows what the fourth does with his time, as he is often gone and the rumours go everywhere, but if there is one thing everyone agrees with is that the Irie household was a completely normal one in all senses of the word. Though the husband was often away doing whatever he did, the wife was a your stereotypical housewife, bordering Yamato Nadeshiko levels of perfection, but not as much as Sawada Nana; the daughter was an adorable girl of many skills but a wandering mind, and the son was that one Irie boy at Yumei, you know, the one with the top scores in everything he does?

Well, maybe not normal. Normal for Namimori standards, though, they were. Missing parents, genius-level children and a paper trail that left many, many people wondering how exactly Irie Tomoko was descended from one of the many adoptees of the Sawada family. Sawadas were odd people, even their adopted children, and well… the Irie family had come to be the most sensible and normal one in their particular part of the town.

They would not think the same if they knew half the things Irie Shouichi got around to doing in his free time. From his experiments to his music to the people he hung around with, Irie Shouichi was not anything like conservative Irie Masatsugu, and even didn't get too close to hospitable Tomoko or outgoing Akiko. Shouichi was his own person, who did his own things behind people's eyes, and often got too close to the border 'Kami what are you even doing here' himself.

Not that he would ever admit to that, of course. Irie Shouichi considered himself the epitome of normality, even in their little hellhole of a city.

When Hana and Kyoko are sent off, after a short conversation and fussing by Irie Tomoko, Kyoko can't help but look up at Irie-san's window. Daemon tugs at her mind, trying to reach for whatever is up there, and she sees a wisp of black cotton candy shaped like a tail retreat into the room. If that is not weird, then she does not know what is, but she is sure that Irie-san is not up there anyways -Irie Tomoko insisted, and she seems to always be aware of where her family is.

"What did you think of that?" Hana asks, making her way to the main road to Midori through her favourite short cut. Kyoko follows, not wanting to delay their meeting with Irie Shouichi any more than necessary, even if the shortcut is rather troublesome for her and her skirt.

"Irie-san seemed more fussy than usual." And she did, worrying too much for her son to have been on a simple outing with friends. Then again, the past few weeks, everyone has been worrying a little too much and the aura around Namimori has turned from wary-but-safe to wary-and-paranoid. Daemon had asked Kyoko to help him put some of his feeling-muting seals around, so as to make the air easier to breath, but Kyoko never felt comfortable with modifying just about anything.

She was a terrible Mist user, that was for sure.

"Everyone is, Kyoko."

They make it to Midori in record time, both pushing each other to the _extreme_ to make it to their meeting in time. The few students who are around, and not hiding in their dorms, throw weirded out looks at them as they swiftly make their way past the College security booth (where Saiga Mashiro is on maybe-not-duty, going through piles of paper at an incredible speed while also keeping an eye on everyone who makes it through. Even the so-called _civilians_ are wary, lately) and run across the campus, heading for the _other_ security booth that manages the cameras on the non-higher education side of the micro-town. If there is one place where Irie Shouichi could be in this situation, it is there.

Kikyo-san walks past them while on the phone, giving them a small friendly wave and pointing back at the booth; there is a plush cat perched on his head and a marshmallow-like charm hangs from his phone, which makes Kyoko bristle. Byakuran _should_ be around helping, why is he not? What is so important he should be allowed to go around freely while Tsuna suffers through a kidnapping and who knows what else? And in that topic, where is _Enma_?

(Somewhere in Nice, France, an albino with terrible rings around his eyes sneezes. His companion gives him a curious look, then resumes assembling the ball-shaped WMD in the ground.)

(On another side of the world, in Hanga Roa, a black-haired beauty shoots her small companion a dirty look when he drops an expensive antique with a yell. It breaks. They swiftly replace it with a(nother) replica and agree to never speak of it again.)

The door to the security booth almost comes off its hinges when it is thrown open, revealing Miura Haru standing there with a furious expression in her face. Before Hana and Kyoko can even greet her, she is stalking away with quick and long strides, taking out her _tantou_ from wherever is it she hides it. Though she mumbles to herself words inappropriate for the children's ears, she is gone from her hearing range within seconds, the same moment the door is open again by a pained looking Irie Shouichi.

Kyoko does not hesitate. Her bouncing balls are in her hands by her third step, Daemon's frantic sensing showing her the way. Hana is a few steps behind her, the flat of her shoes making too much noise for Daemon's liking (he is a little paranoid), but Irie-san seems to have stayed behind. Not that Kyoko cares, right now; following Haru to wherever she is going with that frown is more important.

Kyoko hears it before she sees it. Training wood against hollowed metal, or something, with loud yelling from Haru ( _'get away you_ freak _!'_ ) and a quiet grumbling from whoever else it is. A childish voice yells for them to stop and it takes Kyoko half a second to place a face to the voice.

_Fuuta._

That does it.

Ignoring Hana's warning to _stop_ and _be reasonable_ , Kyoko flicks off the first of her bouncing balls the moment Daemon casts a messy illusion of great stone on it. It crashes somewhere near the scuffle, forcing Haru and whoever she is fighting to stop their attacks to evade it and its bounces (one day she will learn to think in terms of trajectory, but that is not today, or even this year). Fuuta's worried shout breaks into a pained one when he, apparently, trips and slides into Kyoko's field of vision.

He looks okay: his clothes are a mess, torn and grass stained in various places, an apparently makeshift scarf ragged at the ends, hair sticking up and tangled, but he looks healthy enough and not in any distress. Fuuta looks _fine_ , clutching to his book as is the norm and whimpering from the pain of his fall, but otherwise _fine_. She feels the relief settle on her shoulders even before he hears him speak, even before Hana makes it to her side to pull the second ball (illusioned as a spiky metal ball) away from her hands, even before she hears the loud voice of the man fighting with Haru claim is yielding.

Haru doesn't seem to want to give in, but when the man (an actual _adult_ , with spiky black hair, two marks in his face and foreign features) throws away the metal bar he had been using to fend off her attacks she seems to reconsider. Fuuta's words also help, even if the first person he addresses is the man instead of Haru or Kyoko as _they_ had been expecting.

"Lancia-san, are you well?" He is already up, fingers twitching on their hold of the giant book, eyes wandering from face to face like he expects them to disappear anytime now. Which Kyoko will not allow to happen, so she reaches for him to grab his arm in a tight hold; Daemon spreads his senses, which feels weird, to run a quick check up on Fuuta, Haru and the man, but not before dispelling the huge rock illusion still making its steadily-speeding runs around the scene.

"You are _all_ weird here," the man says, grabbing the flying ball with a hand and grunting at the not-quite-gone-yet illusionary weight. "All of you."

Fuuta smiles weakly and faces Kyoko, eyes wandering from her, to Hana, to Haru with twinkling eyes. "Haru-nee. Your ranking in reliability has gone up to the top 10 in Nami Island, congratula-"

Hana hits him lightly on the head for his comment.

* * *

**cloud interlude**

**cirrocumulus**

To Shiraishi Natsumi, it does not come as a surprise when her one blood daughter (or someone who sounds surprisingly alike) comes into her range, feeling furious and smelling of sweet apples and berries. It is a quiet endeavour to most people: barely there footsteps, barely heard breathing, steady and _non-threatening_ like Nagi has come to be through the years she has been Natsumi's daughter. She feels like the slowly retreating water at the sea after a quake, or perhaps like the sibilant quiet in the eye of a tornado; she feels like a powerful force just waiting to be unleashed, but unwilling to, perhaps like the power a Lord feels over their people before a war and waiting for the first command of _yes, go on, kill people and die for me_.

That slowly ascending quiet that breaks upon contact, the dispersing mist in the morning that smells of dark blue and birds, the taste of blue berries in her voice; that is Shiraishi Nagi, Natsumi's daughter, her _child_. Until a few weeks ago, she was her only blood child, but then came the maelstrom of _deeply unsettling_ _smog_ , curling around a blinding cold, white winter sun, condensing into the purest frozen rain with a cotton candy taste.

Smog.

That is what her other child is. Smog, dark and ominous, bringing chaos and contamination and _conflict_ on to the lands where she has lived all her life. A taint, clinging to them all, rolling wave after wave from the west and into their tiny closed island; a taint so strong it arrives, latches on and never leaves. _Smog_ that dirties their clothes, their linens, poisons their breaths and plants and gives them no more to do than to either live with it or die trying.

Had Natsumi been able to _see_ , she would not have made such a comparison, perhaps. Perhaps her sight would have opened up to a better metaphor, but she cares not about such things; she is a story teller, not a poem crafter. For her, her children are like two raindrops fallen from the same cloud, falling on too cold land and spreading around, around the fields from the sea and towards the city, filling every crevice and watching every move. One for the morning, the other for the middle of the night, perhaps, but both moving fast enough that no human would come unscathed from meeting them face on.

Some gravity current moving at the speed of sound towards her and her people, ready to crash at any moment. _Haboob_. _Tephra_. _Lahar_. In her blindness, Natsumi can feel it coming, can hear it in the distance; if she is smart, she will evade it, yet _why_ , oh why, when closer to her death than ever before had her child come back to her, tempting, taunting her to meet him, to break her vow and _run_.

If she is smart, she can step back and watch. Evade the tons of stone, debris, burning sand and dust coming her way from the west; hide underground, perhaps, wait until it is all gone. She can evade it and then, just then, worry about how her words and her husband have managed to ruin that which should have not been ruined.

She is not smart.

The only thing she wants more than dying, is hearing her Kaiji speak to her once more, to call her _mama_. To watch the youngest yet strongest flame of her old, old clan flicker before her eyes, blue and indigo and more blue, and to be allowed to respond. To wrap her own self around her estranged child and pull him back _home_ , as it was meant to and not at the same time, because everyone who is just a little more than average is taken, beaten and broken until nothing is left.

She is _not_ smart. She does not _want_ to be.

The stone she knows is a dull purple hanging from her neck is the only lifeline she has at the moment, and she could shatter it. A fall from some height, an unexpected weight; her life is worth less than the two-puppy litter napping on her lap, less than half a hound, less than _Nagi_ , and definitely less than _Kaiji_.

Which is why it does not surprise her when Nagi comes into the room, all calm before a storm, calm in an catastrophe, perhaps the second before the first gunshot in a battle is fired. Nagi, all blue flames reaching for two different points in the world, a mere touch below her skin, and well disguised anger.

"Mother," Nagi says, and it is well known to Natsumi that Midori had no classes today -or for the remaining of the month, maybe- because of the attacks on Namimori by Kokuyo's own. "Mother, what do you think you are _doing_?"

Natsumi would like to know that as well, as she is confused by her own actions. Day after day of delivering food for her wayward son and his friends, day after day of asking her _minions_ to watch over them; her duties in this town contraried by her own actions and even now neglected in favor of sitting here under the shade of maybe a suicide tree, maybe a house, maybe whatever and her dogs. She should _not_ be supporting illegal migrations, but here she is.

Because he is her son.

Still, she cannot help but want to antagonize her daughter.

"Making our dear intruders' lifes easier, Nagi, dear," she admits with a small bow in her tentative direction and about zero attention in her daughter. Her dogs are all spread throughout the island, on standby, a small tiny pretense of work she will hold for today. "What else would _I_ be doing?"

"Maybe not going against your _job_?" And Nagi sounds desperate, just a little, probably twiddling her thumbs or reaching for her baton, or maybe wishing she could throw her best friend at Natsumi (Hana? Haru?) in order to inflict the most pain possible. Not that Natsumi would let her, but then again, letting Nagi get her way would be a better way to convince her than Natsumi herself is still _loyal_.

Which she may be not. Kaiji is _back_ , which means there is no real reason as to why she should keep up with the Judge's terms. She is dying quickly, her son is back in the island and her daughter belongs no more with her than with her friends. Is it necessary to keep acting as if she was content in this terrible, terrible place, if those who she had been acting for are now free of all blame? She had let them take her youngest away for the safety of her eldest. She had _let_ them, in exchange of so many things that were now meaningless, as _Nagi_ was no longer trapped in the enthral of that terrible, terrible man who would sooner see the island sunk than take them out of here.

And for that, Natsumi smiles.

She has been waiting way too long.

* * *

**mist interlude**

**nimbostratus**

Nagi fears.

As she makes her way through the trees of Kokuyo, past the eyes of many whose trust is as misplaced as hers, past the marked path and the broken bridge gate, she fears. She fears for her life, for the life of her friends, her family; mostly, she fears for her crazed Mother who has given up, and she fears the man she had come to see as a mentor. She fears, and she understands fear very well.

Living in Kokuyo makes people fearful. Maybe not so much the things they see every day -corpses walking and people vanishing, voices speaking in the dead of the night from no sources, small creatures hunting in the night-, but they do fear that which is out of place, out of norm. Strangers. Outsiders. Namimori people. The Sawada. All of this and more are things that those in Kokuyo have learned to watch with apprehension and ready to bolt at any moment, and since more than half of the island is made up of them…

Well.

Nagi always thought she was different from the common Kokuyo person. She thought that, growing up half in Kokuyo, half in Namimori, still attending to school in Midori, then things would be different. Her best friend? acquaintance? is a girl from Namimori and, through her short life, she had never really suffered from the extreme discrimination from one town to the other. There _was_ some, like Hibari Kyoya constantly insisting she did not exist, or half a group of elders throwing her dirty glances, but it is not as much as other children suffered through.

She never did know if Mother darling had gone through the same as her. Mother always ignored Namimori like Hibari Kyoya ignored Kokuyo, only believing in its existance when she was specifically called and specifically needed. Maybe that is because she _is_ from Kokuyo, or maybe because Shiraishi Natsumi is _the_ crazy cat lady (except with dogs) between many other crazy people out there and her perception of reality is heavily modified by her belief that everything is fairies and sunshine.

Nagi does not know, but she does know that what her crazy Mother is doing right now, is wrong.

The gate to Kokuyoland, the gate of many of Nagi's problems as of now, stands before her like the gate to her death. Past it, is the man Nagi considers a brother, who she trusts with her life and her twisted town, and who is currently the enabler of basically everything that goes wrong.

(Along with Kawahira, but somehow Kaiji feels way more chaotic than Kawahira ever did.)

Here is the thing: Nagi and Kaiji are connected through everything they are, two sides of one single element and all that. Kaiji is _raw power_ and the ability to plan and do things, while Nagi is _potential_ and the skill to understand things. Or something of the sorts, no one had really cared to explain anything to Nagi, not even after she realized the voice inside her head and the snapshots of life in her dreams belonged to none other than her _little brother_ ; a little brother who was currently going against everything Nagi believed in for the sake of his own beliefs.

A little brother who was taken to the outside world, ages ago. Like many other people in Namimori, Nagi does _not_ believe in the outside world, not even in its existence. Conclusion: she does _not_ believe in her brother, does not trust him, and does not expect him to do the right thing. That would be a really outsider-like thought. Still, she at least expected him to not try and destroy the precarious balance that is Namimori and Kokuyo, which Nagi's future social life depends on. Not that she cares about her social life at all, but she cares about her friends enough.

She has already yelled at Mother for _agreeing_ with Kaiji, for getting him food when Natsumi should not even _know_ he was there at all. Nagi has _never_ yelled at her insane family, not even at her father, and she rarely saw her father as it was. She had never yelled at the Judge, either, but that was a mixture of love and fear and utter revulsion that keeps her away from interacting with the man that has many times saved her life.

She has yelled at Mother, and maybe some other Nagi would have apologized and allowed Mother to speak over her, but this is _Shiraishi Nagi_ when it concerns her brother (dearest brother, and the pile of letters and envelopes in her desk should be too much even for a supposedly dead person), who should not be here in this island, right now, and a situation that should _not_ be happening.

Kaiji is in town. He is not supposed to. That is all Nagi needs to understand at this moment.

She readies her baton (a ridiculous weapon that exists more for comfort than anything else; her brother uses a staff, and Nagi feels a little too comfortable with staves to be comfortable using them in daily life) and hides away her sash in case anyone sees her and thinks she is acting for the Judge (she is not, this is completely independant and technically insubordination, as she was ordered to _stay away_ ). She sends a quick message to Haru and to the Kuroe, and then to Kusakabe for cover up.

For the first time in her life, Shiraishi Nagi is breaking all the laws governing her existance, going against her commanding officer and following Hibari Kyoya's vague instructions. For the first time, she breaks the misty haze in her mind telling her to stay away from her brother, from Kokuyoland and from the seaside. For the first time, she is doing something on her own volition.

This is the first time. And it will not be the last.

* * *

**015**

**Children of the Sea**

Shouichi was not expecting the man.

When he opens the door once again, after trying and failing to follow after Haru, Hana and Kyoko (he is in so much _pain_ ), he finds the expected. Haru, looking no worse than she did a few minutes before; Hana, all Hibari-calm eyes and posture; Kyoko, in fluffy clothes and rolling two balls in her hand. Fuuta, he had not expected, but he is happy enough with Fuuta randomly showing up today as to ignore his ever-present need to question things, and bring him in to offer him a warm cup of tea. The man, he had _definitely_ not expected: he is rough looking, clearly a foreigner, definitely an outsider, half-dazed and half-attentive in a way he has only seen other outsiders be when they are in their first month of surrounded-by-crazy.

Fuuta is used to the man. He offers him tea, offers him a seat, and then sits besides him like it is the most common thing to do, which it is not. Nevermind that this booth is Shouichi's current centre of command, so Fuuta should not be inviting random unknowns into it, but Fuuta _is_ used to the man, so he allows it this time. Fuuta is a darling, a child who understand Shouichi more than maybe himself, and most importantly: he knows where Tsuna is.

The man's name is Lancia. He comes from Italy, is really strong, may have killed some people he cared deeply for while drunk/drugged/possessed. He feels uncomfortable with no weapons near by, and feels like _Tsuna_ , in a 'I am possessed and I know it' way. He has a weird boss that told him to take his precious hostage, protect him, and get them both out of the island.

"Well, that is definitely not possible," he responds after everything has been said. Kyoko/Daemon is fuming in a corner, Hana is listening attentively and Haru seems to want nothing else but find a nice place to hide the body; Shouichi is clearly the only one thinking straight, so he decides to worry about all things wrong in the man's words later, and see about the things he can focus on now. Firstly, the whole 'we need to get out of here, soon' thing, which cannot be done. "Kikyo has gone to deal with a request, so, sorry, you missed him."

"A request?" Hana is, of course, one to focus in the smallest details. Actually, Kikyo fulfilling a request is definitely not a small detail: Kikyo's job is all about getting outsiders (like Lancia) into town so they can do illegal things (like Lancia) or hire people to do their illegal things. Shouichi is _still_ amazed the Hibari allow Kikyo to stay in town, but then again, Kikyo is a source of income they can easily strike down on when in crisis, and most of the people who _do_ come in leave soon enough with nothing to be noted. See: Kozato Enma.

Hibari Kyoya doesn't think the same, but Hibari Kyoya is the direct opposite from his father.

"Some ship idling nearby has been broadcasting some message for about two days now. Since Kurokawa-san is too busy to respond to it, we took it on ourselves to see what they wanted." Shouichi shrugs, because that makes a lot of sense -if the legal side doesn't do anything, it is up to the illegal one to move. Kikyo _likes_ what he does, even if it involves crazy babies with guns and other crazy ladies. "They seem to be looking for a group of escaped convicts, Lancia-san."

Lancia, for all he is big and terrifying and intimidating, stiffens at the words. He may be sweating, but Shouichi doesn't care enough to pay attention to him. If he cared enough to watch people's reactions to things, he would not be Tsunayoshi's friend (he would have run away long ago), and he would probably hate everything in town.

"So there is an Italian ship in our waters?" Of course everyone caught on to _who_ the ship's people were looking for; Haru glances at Lancia from where she is making _more_ tea, and even usually-oblivious Kyoko is reaching for Fuuta's hand like all she wants to do is get him away from Lancia. "What a time to not have Hide-san with us."

"Is there anyone around who _can't_ speak Italian?" Because for some reason, lots of people in the city could -Shouichi had learnt it from Byakuran, who insisted everyone should speak at least four languages, and from Tsunayoshi (and Daemon) who doesn't like doing his homework in Japanese (because _kanji_ are annoying, he says). Oh, he knows that technically everyone should be learning either English or Chinese (both of which Shouichi excels at), and some people even go for Russian, but _why_ is Italian so widespread?

"We won't be meeting the ship's crew," Hana says, and it sounds final. "We need to find Tsuna and Hibari-san, now that Fuuta has been found, and we can't do that by cutting down our numbers." At times, it is hard to forget that this girl is the daughter of Kurokawa Fuyuka, the scariest lady in the world, so everyone listens to her as she enumerates what needs to be done, what has been done and what has changed since the last time she made the list. She would be writing it down, but the need to keep things a secret at least until tomorrow was stronger than the need to keep things organized.

Shouichi spares a second of mourning for his phone and the encrypted server Byakuran destroyed this morning, where the future-Millefiore inside Namimori worked to plan things. It would have been easier to plan things through the DCB, but the DC was missing its General, movilizing the six cadres without _their_ commanding officers (except Hidetada) and running around like headless chickens with no sense of strategy whatsever; it was chaos, and if suddently Irie Shouichi began acting out with _Hana_ and _Haru_ , then all of the DC could turn themselves against Midori.

As Hana plans, Shouichi checks his main screen. There is a new message from Spanner and Byakuran wherever they are doing whatever it is they wanted to do, and he feels only dread as he reads it.

_Terrorism at airport, I feel so fulfilled._

* * *

  **016**

**Children of the Pearl**

Hide finds himself back in the hospital, where he has spent the majority of his time these past few weeks; he arrived with an injured Gokudera under his arm and a not-quite-as-injured Takeshi trailing behind him, with Kato and two members of baby-DC running behind him scolding Takeshi in a vague, non-threteaning fashion. He is pleased: baby-DC, the elementary school division of his illegal army-school gang-Disciplinary COmmittee, is rather adorable in a bloodthirsty way he usually only attributes to Hibari.

Of course, it will continue being pleasant as long as Tsuna never, ever joins it.

Sitting here in the hospital makes him happy enough, lately. Grandfather is getting better, _sensei_ is not lingering constantly anymore, and the only people he has to worry about are just about everyone. That is good, right? It is.

He checks the DCB as is routine and chokes when he realizes that people are _finally_ starting to notice Hibari is not around anymore. It only took a day: Hibari is a constant presence in Namimori, soaring the sky, hiding in shadows and whatever, and he not being around should have been noticed sooner. As Kusakabe is not around to take command, either, people are addressing the commanders for information, except the only commander that is fully functional after the outsider's strikes are… him, and only him.

 _Sixth-commander, what should we do about-_ and all that. Hide feels overwhelmed with the expectations on his shoulders: the sixth cadre is known as the 'menial tasks division' for a reason, and even if he _is_ apparently the third strongest person in Namimori Middle it is still _weird_ to have people refering to him.

He responds to the posts as politely as possible ( _take a break or go help the High school division, report to Kusakabe-sama_ and so on) and, after that is done with, goes to check on Gokudera.

"Decimo-"

"Save it," because he knows what Gokudera will say: sorry, sorry for whatever, and Hide is _so not in the mood_. "We need to get rid of the leader and today's attack gave us enough of a lead to know how to get into their lair," because the had chased after the kids all the way to the gates of Kokuyoland, but had been unable to go in for some reason. "Do you have any-"

"You should strike tomorrow," calls Reborn's voice. Hide turns around, where Takeshi is looking sheepish with Kato at his side and Reborn sitting on his head like he _belongs_ there, like he has any right to be there at all, and Hide glares. So does Gokudera, actually, but he doesn't quite know what Gokudera has against Reborn now. "They will be weak from today and a single night is not enough to recover from their current injuries. It would be the best to attack tomorrow morning."

"And why," Hide growls, "should we follow what you say?"

Reborn shrugs and jumps to Gokudera's bed. "It is a tactical advantage."

"I agree with R-san." Kato steps forwards with a small bow. That giant coat of hers is still there, concealing who knows how many illegally-acquired weapons, and she is holding her phone in her small hands like it is her only hold in reality. "Irie-san told us that one of their numbers is seeking refuge in Midori, and with the other three as injured as they are they should not have a powerful enough person to defend themselves against an all-out attack, except for the leader. If Hibari- _taisho_ is missing for longer than three days, the LN will begin moving in defense and will cut us our chances to strike, so tomorrow morning is the only time when it would be advantageous for us to move."

The teenagers, and a baby, in the room stare at her for a while, because she is barely ten years old and probably has more skill at tactics than all of them together. Hide himself feels so _proud_ ; Kato has gone a long way from the crybaby she was to taking over almost all of the baby-DC, along with Hana and excluding the sixth-grader on command duty (whose name always evades Hide). Now, if only he could remember her _given name_ …

"Morning, then. 5 AM." Hide nods at the two baby-DC members clinging to the door still, who salute (this city is so weird) and run off. "We -that is, Takeshi and myself- will move in as vanguard. Most middle-school officers who could help are incapacitated, so I will need Midori to stand at ready in case they run there, and the high-schoolers around Namimori."

"Are you planning a war?" Takeshi asks, truly curious, and then laughs, because _of course_ he is planning a war. Then he fixes his wording: "Are you planning a war against all of Kokuyo?"

"They are all uncooperative bastards."

"And the LN?" Kato, who is always worrying about the LN because they (apparently) killed her mother by negligence, asks.

"We tell them nothing."

Takeshi nods, Kato beams and Hide pulls out his phone to type commands. If the people chose him as their designated leader, then he needs to actually be not-like-Hibari and _tell them_ things.

Gokudera and Reborn share an equally puzzled look and then give up on trying to understand just about everything.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a while, and this is technically missing an Interlude but I figured I had left you waiting far too long. Also, Fran and Spanner deserve better than for me to write them in an hour. 
> 
> I'm looking for a beta that may want to punch me in the face for taking too long, anyone up to the task? Also, I really want this arc to be done with, but alas, I do need to show how Namimori works under outsider interference so I can prepare things for later...
> 
> Things to note: _cirrocumulus_ and _nimbostratus_ are deliberate messy chapters since they are cloud and mist. _Children of the_ chapters are named as such because they are centred around Mare/Vongola children. Tsuna comes back next chapter, hopefully, and Nagi won't die anytime soon. Kyoko's weapon are bouncing balls and she thinks that's cool. Reborn is hella confused.


	18. warsong (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The DC and allies finally infiltrate Kokuyo... except it is even more annoying than they expected it to be. Meanwhile, elsewhere(s), other people do things.
> 
>  **Warnings:** the usual. Also, terrorism, stalker tendencies, OOC for some characters who may be too injured to think properly, OOC for some character(s) who may be... trying to make a friend?
> 
> P.S.: Spot the mistakes. There must be a lot? Unbetaed, like always.

**rain interlude**

**maxillaria**

Had anyone, anyone at all, told Neil Spanner he would, once in his life, be committing to international terrorism, he would have laughed in their face (plainly, because he is Spanner) and then made it quite clear he is no terrorist. Yes, alright, maybe his hobbies are just a little odd for a person who does nothing at all besides stay hidden in his room, but that is what they are: hobbies. Activities he does to fill his free time, of which he has a lot, and maybe, maybe, he shouldn’t have pushed his family to let him go for free exams and online studies.

His hobbies are weird. In some parallel universe, his weird hobbies would have gotten him recruited by an insane marshmallow addicted mafioso, who wanted his particular set of skills to help take over the world. In this instance of parallel universes, he _also_ got himself recruited by an insane marshmallow addicted mafioso, but not completely because of his skills, but rather for his Flames.

 _“What,”_ he had said to the marshmallow addicted mafioso, because _what even are_ Flames and what do they have to do with him and taking over the world? Are they superpowers? Magic? Some weird innate skill only some people can awaken to and makes him thus a candidate to be recruited into this cult that wants to take over the world?

So they were.

It wasn’t a cult, really. More like an organization who really, really wanted the world in their hands, for reasons that were explained to him once, twice and thrice yet he still didn’t understand -talking to him while he was tired, pulling all nighters or just off his sugar was a Bad Idea, with capital letters. Still, Neil Spanner had come to like this particular organization and its leaders, partly because they were _his age_ and making long term plans for the next decade, and partly because, well, he was bored. Life was boring when you were a technophiliac genius with not many challenges ahead of you. And, since life was boring, he had joined this ridiculous organization where he met _another_ technophiliac genius with similar ideas, and cute kids.

So, now, if someone said he would get involved in international terrorism, he would just smile. Smile, nod his head and click the detonator in his hand, watching amused as people blew up around him. Because one of his ridiculous best friends (not _the_ ridiculous best friend, he was not here right now) wanted him to make an airport explode, and so he would.

“Are we sure he is here,” he asks, because while explosions and WMD make him happy, he doesn’t want to blow up a whole airport if there is no reason for it. They had a really interesting reason, this time.

“Hm, he should be getting here soon?” Byakuran takes a bite from his marshmallow cake (a soft, gooey white thing that has too much sugar for even Spanner himself to tolerate), one eye focused on the cake itself and another on the small device he has in his hands. As he flips through it, multiple views of the hall they are currently in go past, and Spanner has no idea how he can take in information at that speed. “I checked their flight, it is around 10, or maybe 11, so they should be arriving in the next half an hour.”

“Alright then.” Spanner nods, checking once again that all the wires in the bomb (inside a bag in a locker in the other side of the airport) were connected properly. He had made a high precision robot especially for this task, remotely controlled, and the idea that it would blow up along with the airport made him a little sad. He has the blueprints still, though.

40 minutes later, he comes back from the bathroom to find Byakuran giggling madly at the screen of his handheld. He assumes they are ready, so he packs up his things while Byakuran pays their dozen cake slices consumed through the day, and then leads the younger boy outside by his arm. Why Byakuran wanted to see the explosion, he doesn’t know, but Byakuran has always been weird like that.

The ringing of Byakuran’s phone catches his attention, and Spanner looks as he picks up the phone, accepting the call and smiling.

“Hi, Fran!” The words are cheerily said to the fake caller across the line and Byakuran’s smile widens.

The same moment, a trigger goes off in a locker in the other side of the airport. There is a deafening sound as the main bomb _explodes_ , setting off a chain reaction on the other smaller bombs scattered around.

Spanner sighs and gets his finger off the detonator in his pocket. It is done, and now they have a child to hunt.

* * *

**017**

**sunrise**

At 4:30 AM, the lights at the Kusakabe household were already on and life was starting to rise from the depths of sleep. One particular woman finds herself, a mere ten minutes later, standing before the stove and stirring a thick porridge-like substance with a wooden spoon. Her hair is tied up with a hairnet, she wears a white and black apron and thin woolen sandals.

Her name is Sawada Nana and she, like the good mother she is, is up in the middle of the night to prepare breakfast for her elder son. Not that she needs to, because Hayato-kun is already awake and he can cook surprisingly well, but she still wants to have _something_ to do before her son goes to war with the neighbouring town.

Oh, she knows. By this point in life, she has learned to read cues and hints from her children; she was, after all, originally part of a field detective unit, like her parents before her and like four of her siblings. So, she knows when Hidetada is planning to do something dangerous, and while she might not be able to help out there, she can still be a mother to him right before he goes rescue her youngest.

Well, Tsunayoshi is not really her youngest. That would be I-pin, now officially adopted into the family by grace of the Sovereign. Adopted under _her_ name and hers alone, as Iemitsu is nowhere to be seen, and has been nowhere to be seen in years. Well, he has gained a daughter, now. If he didn’t want one, then he should have been around. His fault.

Nana hums. In the hallway, Hayato-kun is speaking to Hide through the bathroom’s door, but she needs not understand what they are saying. Let them keep their secrets, for now. She has to make food for those who she cares for, and then has to make food for those in her family registry. Chiyo-san is still asleep, as is Hideo, while Tetsuya spent the night at the hospital due to his injuries. He is a true leader, that one, willing to put his health in the line for those working under him.

The front door slides open. It is far too early for Takeshi-kun to be here already, and those steps are definitely not Takeshi’s. They are heavy, even with no shoes, and making their way directly to the kitchen. She has a knife in her hand, and she can use it to defend herself; not as reliable as a gun, but still a _weapon_ , like is needed in this town she has gotten herself into.

“ _Buongiorno_ , Mamma,” Renato’s high pitched voice comes from behind her. There is the familiar sound of someone sitting at the table, and then another, lighter body settling down besides it.

“ _Good morning_ , Reborn-chan, Shamal,” she greets in her mother language. She has already set the coffee maker on (Hidetada loves his coffee), so while they wait, she puts down two extra mugs for those she wasn’t expecting.

Shamal looks tired. More tired than ever before, and she wants to get him out of this city and back to Spain. Get him away before the city can corrupt him, more than he already is. She could send him away with Hide, with Tsuna, but she _knows_ very well that that is not possible. Her children must stay here, and her friend must stay here as well. For as long as needed.

It takes Hide a few more minutes to come into the kitchen, Hayato trailing dutifully behind him (and that’s just plain weird). Nana smiles at the silver haired boy, handing him the ladle to serve the porridge-like concoction she has made; it _is_ porridge, but if she knows Hidetada, he will say it is some witchcraft potion pretending to be it. She also serves them all coffee, because when Tsuna isn’t here, that is usually Bianchi’s job, but Bianchi is still at Fuyuka-san’s house.

“This again?” Hide, as expected, makes a small whining sound as he scoops his breakfast with a spoon. He looks at it warily, because it is Hidetada, before eating it like it is the most difficult thing to swallow.

Nana just smiles. She knows her son, and she knows that he likes his food even if not the texture of it. He also likes her coffee, so she serves him double the coffee than everyone else has by pushing her mug to his side, because she doesn’t really want coffee right now. She is more of a tea person (British and all that. British detective housewife, it could be a TV series), and also more of a bread person so she doesn’t touch her porridge at all.

Instead, she crosses her hands under her chin and smiles at Hide. She smiles Tsuna’s smile, that smile that always makes Iemitsu stop being an idiot, Hide halt and confess to whatever he has done, and Tsuna smile back at her until either of them win.

“So, you got the Kokuyo patrol today?” Kokuyo patrol are the weekly visits the DC makes to Kokuyo’s borders, looking for anything out of place. She knows this because, well, Hide is part of the DC and she does keep up, if only at times, with what is going on. They are scheduled in rotation, Hide has gotten it twice in seven years, but it was a memorable enough memory he will not be weirded out by her mentioning it.

“Yeah,” Hide nods, sipping his coffee from the spoon (terrible manners), either ignoring or not noticing the weird looks Renato and Shamal throw at him. Hayato just continues eating his food. “With everything going on, things are getting tense, but Midori decided it was a good idea to continue the patrols. Tetsuya-san asked me to do it, so we’re gonna see if we can find anything with Gokudera.”

“Can we expect you back for dinner?” Her usual question, Hide is still a child. He hesitates, then nods, which is an _almost lie_ , just like she knows his previous answer was, even if it was carefully crafted so anyone who knows what he is talking about will see through it. She is not supposed to know how dangerous the situation is, though, so she just nods back at him and turns to her old friend. “Shamal, did you watch last night’s news?”

Shamal, of course, responds without a worry. “You mean Spain’s? I did, yes, but what can I do about it?”

Breakfast goes on the same. There is little conversation, small movements and tension hovering in the air. The clock hits 5 AM the moment Hide is looking for his jacket and staff (another one, because he keeps breaking them), with Renato bothering him, while Hayato helps Nana wash the dishes.

“Hayato-kun, take care out there, alright?”

“Yes, Mamma-san.”

If either Shamal or Renato notice him taking the case she put by the front door earlier, they don’t mention it. They will, after all, need all the help they can get.

* * *

  **018**

**eye of the storm**

Watching Namimori wake up is like watching a well oiled machine at work. That is, a machine that goes backwards instead of forwards and is probably missing a few important screws as well. Namimori at morning is not quite like anywhere else at morning, giving a vague semblance of normality while also not even bothering to pretend it is normal at all.

At 5:30 AM, Kurokawa Fuyuka and Miura Satoshi, from the comfort of their own homes, begin scouring the international news to see what can be told in the local media and what needs to be kept away. At the very same time, Sasagawa Michiko begins her morning shift at the hospital, first by going to greet Sawada Ietsuna, then by going do whatever has been assigned to her; soon afterwards, Shiraishi Natsumi will get up to feed her dozens of dogs breakfast while Yamamoto Tsuyoshi makes quality check on the day’s shipment of fresh fish.

At 5:30 AM, Hibari Masato sleeps. Had this been a normal day, Hibari Kyoya would be kicking the door down in order to wake the elder up, but as it is not, Hibari Masato will be allowed to sleep until his natural wake up time: 9 AM. About the same time, Old Man Kawahira stands atop the tallest building in the city or whichever building he chooses that particular day, watching over his reign like the true God he is. He watches, smiling, glad his miniature civilization is prospering under his guidance, while listening in to the reports of his scattered policemen who retreat back to their dwellings as it is morning already.

Around the city and at 6 AM, small clusters of school-aged children with black jackets and red armbands would usually begin gathering for morning training, briefings and the day’s set of orders. However, this particular day, come 5:30 AM said small clusters of school-aged children have already met up and are in the process of preparing for war. They move in cells of three, each looking for particular corners or intersections of interest, most of them near the borders of main town Namimori and towards the road connecting them to Kokuyo and Midori.

Bianchi Devizia watched this fearsome display of organization and discipline as she made her way from Kurokawa Fuyuka’s home to the bridge entrance to Kokuyo. As she ran, walked and strolled past cloaked forms and red-armbands, she began finally to understand the grade of control the so called school club, the Disciplinary Committee, held over this small niche of nightmares in their mortal, normal world. It was something she had not understood before, as she rarely interacted with said school club, but she had seen enough through her life to understand the role they held in the society of Namimori.

Nami Island, as a whole, was a place that went to sleep and woke up early. Watching the people going through the mechanic motions of finishing their social day and heading home, was something akin to watching the ends of a migration flock. Groups dissolved at a specific hour, heading to their own safe havens under the watch of the Committee and the neighbourhood Watch, while staying away from the eyes of the cloaked, hooded figures that were the police. It was a constant routine, only broken by the outsiders who visited the outer districts and, rarely, the city-wide organization tasked to keep peace.

If someone with no permission broke the routine, would they be allowed to continue existing? Or had the lawbreakers already been picked up and erased, strengthening the belief that the rules were there for the people’s safety? What, exactly, went on in the small window of time with no prying eyes, in the streets of Namimori?

Bianchi has not learnt that, just yet. Nor does she think she wants to.

When Reborn had asked her to come test Vongola Decimo, she had been ecstatic. Reborn, the man she thought she loved, had a task for her. A task which she would complete to the best of her abilities, even if it put her life on the line. That was what she had told herself before arriving Namimori, that is what she keeps telling herself. That her task has changed has not changed her work mindset, even if her task went from ‘test Sawada Hidetada’ into ‘protect yourself and your brother’.

Bianchi thought she loved Reborn. She is still not sure if that is what she feels for him, but she is unable to see him up the high pedestal she had put him on before. Now, she sees him as a fellow human being, trapped in this deceptive jail that is Namimori, struggling to survive and to keep his friends safe. A fellow prisoner and hostage of this land, just like Shamal, just like Hayato.

The experiences she has lived in Namimori have taught her a lot. Reborn and Shamal had also taught her a lot, both in techniques and in life. Her coming to Namimori had allowed her to reconnect to her brother, to build new memories with him, better and worse than those they had in the past. Namimori had been, so far, a good learning experience to her.

Now, however, all she wants to do is pick up her brother and flee. It isn’t that she is afraid of this place (keeping to the rules is easy enough for her), which is quite average at first glance and really amiable to the people; rather, it is the feeling of complete wrongness of Namimori that has her getting constant goosebumps in the back of her neck. Namimori is peaceful as long as you stay away from that which is not (and she has a trained sense to stay away from trouble), but even the quiet daily life of Namimori is covered in a layer of deception Bianchi wants nothing to do with, anymore.

Again, she doesn’t blame Reborn: he is just as weirded out by this place as she is. And she cannot blame Namimori and its fake peace, either: it has been like that for ages, what is some more centuries? She doesn’t blame herself for accepting this job, or for taking the façade of Namimori at face value. She doesn’t know _what_ to blame, really. She just wants to blame _something_ for the mess she is in.

Even so, as she watches the day of Namimori begin, she gets herself ready for whatever will happen in the next few hours. She needs to be prepared for everything, at all times, and that is a lesson she has learned well. That she has needed to retrain her flight-or-flight instinct to not flee instantly in the face of some things, well… what else is she supposed to do?

Yamamoto Takeshi awaits by the bridge, a short sword strapped to his back. Asides from the sword, which had become common in the past few weeks, there is nothing else that makes him any different from the Yamamoto Takeshi Bianchi met when she arrived Namimori: casual clothing, casual posture, an aura of calmness and frozen cold feelings. That which often made her instincts yell at her to run, hide, take a blade to his neck, is still present, but sharpened and honed until it has become a real weapon to wield.

A natural born hitman, Reborn had called him. And he is, just like some other people in this city are, because apparently Namimori sucked away everything that was natural talent and turned it into something twisted and broken and ready to kill. Talents like arts and physical prowess, turned into deadly weapons like sewing needles with poisoned ends, brushes that hide little knives, kicks that could score a goal aimed to the head and bats that turn into swords.

“Good morning, Bianchi-san!” Yamamoto greets her, all cheerful and happy and deadly, and she nods at him. “Ready for war?”

And there it is, another thing that weirds her out in the ease of her acceptance. These children do not see war as a game, rather they see it as a life. Born and bred for it, they are survivors of a competitive town ruled with an iron fist. Child soldiers who never faced a true battlefield, but rather are constantly facing a battle where a single mistake means death.

Once more, she nods. What else is she supposed to do?

* * *

**019**

**high treason**

A nervous Saiga Mashiro greets them at the gates between Midori and Kokuyo, Amagi sitting at his observation booth checking the cameras. A clear box with three small bottles is quickly placed into Hide’s hands with no greetings exchanged between the three DC members, and then Saiga takes his place in his safe space as Amagi makes a great show of being proud of Hide.

“You have grown so much since you were just a creepy brat-”

“Amagi-san-”

“I remember when you kept missing your deadlines-”

“Please don’t-”

“What a great commander you will be-”

Honestly, Takeshi doesn’t see what the great deal is. Hide has always been, at least to his and probably Hibari’s eyes, ridiculously good at what he does, even when he was just a grade school student slowly climbing through the ranks of the DC. From what he remembers, Amagi had never paid any special attention to him until he got the ‘six’ sewn into the back of his armband in silver thread and he began getting invited to the rare meeting at the Hibari compound (had that been last year? Why did it feel so long ago?).

In fact, no one in the older divisions of the DC had paid any attention to Hide, ever. He had always been ‘that creepy brat’ by the members of the younger families, or greeted with reverent and terrified whispers of ‘the Sawada heir’ by members of the older ones. Now it was different, as Hide’s fanclub (originally lead by one Sasagawa Kyoko, with the now added support of Gokudera Hayato) had begun to expand its reign into the more disciplined members of the city, but generally it is more of the same.

Takeshi doesn’t feel jealous, even if the blade in his back keeps telling him he should.

Finally, Amagi is done and gone, and Hide sighs. This much attention has never been something Hide gets openly; he is more of that hidden hero sort, not that he will never admit that, and most times he gets fear or scorn from the common population. Takeshi understands him, a little, but he has always liked attention a little too much to completely understand what really goes through his mind.

“It will be Mochida anyways, so why are they all going on about that,” he is muttering, and Takeshi wants to laugh. It will _so_ not be Mochida. If anyone, it will be Hana, or Kato, though that might be weird considering their complete and utter devotion to either Hibari. But meh, politics, he can’t care about that enough. “I am supposed to be a mafia boss not an army general…”

While Hide goes on and on in his whispered rambles to himself, Takeshi takes the case with the tiny, liquified stones in it. The only one who seems to recognize what they are is Gokudera, when he makes a questioning sort of sound even as he receives his. Reborn just looks at his own chubby hands and the bottle in them with the attention he gives everything he doesn’t quite understand (so, everything in Namimori), and Bianchi…

“Will these help us get into Kokuyo?” She turns the bottle in her hands and holds it up to the light, watching it through her purple-tinted goggles, and it is then than Hide seems to remember than yes, Bianchi and Gokudera are also as much of outsiders as Reborn is.

“For a while, at least?” Takeshi shrugs, because he doesn’t understand the purpose of the stones very well. It had once been explained to him by either his mom or dad, but he had been too distracted by the pretty, pretty sky blue in his hands to pay much attention. “Usually, only locals get them, so it should be enough for the Guardians to let you through.”

Takeshi ignores both Bianchi’s and Reborn’s glances that tell him he is saying the weirdest things ever. Not that he is, because Takeshi cannot see anything wrong with his last statement. Hide can’t, either, from where he has finally stopped glaring at Bianchi and Reborn (he has become a bitter ball of anger), and Gokudera has become local enough to not question anything and just accept it.

Since Gokudera is borderline local, he is the first one to crack open his bottle and take the stone out. Black ooze solidifies into a sparkly red glassy stone, with some small tendrils of other colors; it looks even more marble-like than Takeshi’s or Hide’s, whose stones are made of at most two colors, if they are lucky enough. It is pretty, and bright, unlike Takeshi’s or even his father’s own dull-and-still-dulling ones.

He looks away, both because this is something he should not be watching, and because he has never felt so disgustingly jealous about someone else’s soul (or whatever the stone is supposed to represent, Takeshi never remembers).

“Okay.” Gokudera just takes the ooze-turned-glass with the resigned acceptance Takeshi often sees in Kusakabe Hideo, who had to deal with the Hibari father-and-son nonsense on a daily basis, or in Irie Shouichi when he has to try and make Tsunayoshi do his homework. So, the acceptance of someone who knows this is complete bullshit but has become so desensitized to it they just don’t care. “So this makes me completely Namimori, now.”

“Welcome to the weird leagues,” Hide mutters. He doesn’t spare a glance for Bianchi or Reborn as he walks past them and to the gate, so Takeshi follows is lead. Gokudera steps into place on Hide’s other side, his stone already hidden in his pocket, and from the light footsteps behind them they know Bianchi and Reborn are just a step behind.

Takeshi would say he felt something wrap around them, something shimmery and slightly poisonous, as they walked into Kokuyo, but that would be too much. He feels the thing kind-of shatter around their forms, allowing them entrance into Kokuyo proper, and then it just rushes away from them and back to the gate. It is a comforting feeling, to him, probably to Hide as well, so he pays it no mind.

“Have you been here lately?”

“I came to visit my grandparents like four years ago,” back when things were not-as-weird and Hide was not a Mafia boss-in-training. Takeshi tries to remember Kokuyo as he had last seen it, all those years ago, but it is a hazy memory at best. “You’ve probably been here more often than me.”

“Only the town, we don’t go into the forest- is it this one?” Hide kicks a boulder in the road, revealing a dirt path leading into the darkness that is the forest under morning light. “Can’t we just use the front door?”

“Masks? Either that or- well, this here.”

They _had_ been trying to not pay much attention to the frustrated voices from behind them, Bianchi and Reborn discussing something that may have to do with murderers or kidnappers; Gokudera doesn’t join them, because Gokudera is working hard to become a growth at Hide’s side. They had also tried to not pay attention to the growing numbers of dogs gathering around them, but that becomes completely impossible when they see Shiraishi Natsumi waiting at a side of the road, her umbrella folded at her feet, mostly hidden by the biggest dog Takeshi has ever seen in his life.

“Shiraishi-san, good morning.” Hide greets her with a bow, as does Takeshi. He then feels a weight settling on his head, Reborn’s tiny form a welcome presence, and he is glad the outsiders have stopped bickering for now.

“My greetings, Hidetada, Asari-san.” She waves a cheerful greeting with her fan, freezing midways when Bianchi comes to stand within her range. “...other people who I cannot recognize and… Mister R?”

“Correct,” Reborn chirps, waving back to her from Takeshi's shoulder. “ _Ciaossu_ , _signora_ Shiraishi.”

The lady Shiraishi hums and she looks, for the first time since Takeshi has known her, like she is thinking things through. “Definitely more people than I was expecting. Ro?”

The giant dog barks at her and trots off (and, well, its sole existence is more than enough to confirm all those ridiculous claims from his father of _giant, murderous hell beasts rising from the shadows_ ), the other many dogs following after it. A small, old, fluffy thing stays behind, chewing at the hem of Shiraishi-san’s clothes, and Takeshi kinda really wants a dog now.

“You were expecting us?” Gokudera steps back into place next to Hide, and Takeshi notices his hand twitching for his weapons and for the case he _voluntarily_ dropped when the many, many canines walked past him. “Why?”

“Oh, I know who you are! You are Sato’s baby student-”

“I am not-!”

“He complains a lot about you~!” She cheers, her fan uselessly hiding her wide smile while her other hand pulls a folded paper from somewhere in her clothes. It is wrapped in a beaded bracelet of many, too many small yellow stones, which both Hide and Takeshi recognize as Hibari’s. “He left this here for you all, accept it with your best feelings!”

Since he is technically the guardian person in this weird family trip (Famiglia trip?), Reborn takes the paper and bracelet before she can throw it at them (which she has been known to do). They all gather around as he gives the bracelet to Hide, who pockets it, and then opens the paper for everyone to see.

It is a map, quickly drawn, of the route to Kokuyoland’s back entrance. It goes through the forest and around the town, directly into what should be Kokuyo’s crumbling Health Center, and passes through a few local houses (carefully marked in green) in the way, but asides from that it seems to be an acceptable trip, staying far from the seaside cliffs and the main Guardian statues.

Gokudera hums and Takeshi can see his eyes twitching, as they do when he is planning. Reborn seems to accept the route, handing the paper to Bianchi for memorization, and then bows formally to Shiraishi-san.

“Our thanks, _signora_.”

“No worries, no worries!” She giggles, snapping her fan closed, and her dog yips and begins pulling her away. “Make sure to not get caught!”

She vanishes, somehow unheard to them all, and Takeshi shares a glance with Hide. ‘Did she seem strained to you,’ he is asking, and is not surprised when Hide gives him a small nod as reply.

Well, weirder things have happened.

* * *

**020**

**onslaught**

Years before Tsuna’s birth, before Hide’s birth, before Hibari Masato took the mantle as reigning ruler of Namimori; years, years ago, the healthcare system of the Nami circle went through a renewal process that lasted years. This happened through the ‘dark ages’ of the regent rule, back when the Judge, Mister K, took the reigns of Namimori as a whole while the city waited for their true king to be old enough to understand things and, according to just about everyone that lived through that period, was the worst era Namimori ever had. Progress-wise.

Namimori had had a single hospital since far too long ago. It served the island’s whole population on itself, with a small, college-run clinic in Midori to tend to minor injuries in the two smaller towns. The issue of the steadily rising population, a truly shocking development for a land as isolated as Namimori, reached its crisis point by the 70s; the project to completely rebuild Namimori’s main hospital came to be around then, to be finalized near thirty years later in the form of the current monstrosity with its five basement levels and who knows how many hidden staircases.

Kokuyo Health Center had been a quickly constructed building that served as the island’s hospital while Namimori’s was being rebuilt. The location was chosen by the Judge himself and made no sense to anyone, as it was too far to be reached easily in case of emergencies, and a wide area was cleared around it to use as a parking lot in the front and a park in the back. None of these projects ever came to be, as the building was barely used before the building mistakes manifested themselves and the maintenance crew began slowly disappearing, then the building was abandoned, and then fixed and annexed to Kokuyoland as an entertainment center, which was also abandoned.

Kokuyoland itself was… another thing that no one likes to think about. It was built in one of the rare moments when the bridge to the island was visible to all and an opportunist came, decided to settle down and make an amusement park for the locals. Hide once visited it, when he was young, maybe six or seven years old, and by then people were already growing tired of the damage it made to the natural landscape. It was never really popular, anyways, and it wasn’t that Namimori didn’t understand fun (they have quite a big arcade, and they get gaming consoles from the country at times). It finally closed down after a _supposedly_ naturally occurring landslide ruined the lower rides and displays, and then the opportunist man that had built it was publicly judged in the middle of Namimori.

He was never seen again after that.

Even now, most citizens of Namimori and Kokuyo have an aversion for Kokuyoland, no matter how useful it is. It is, technically, still functional: it was originally powered by the river in high current times. If one wanted, they could live in the Health Center quite comfortably, as it had electricity and water, and many edible plant species grew around and in it. Lots of Kokuyo Children camped in it for a few weeks a year, and it was a common DC training ground when those weeks came around -Kokuyo-Namimori staged wars were rather common training exercises in peace times. Yet, none of them liked the place at all.

The Health Center’s wall comes to sight, and Hide twirls his staff to get ready, Giotto’s presence coming back to hover close to him once more. At his side, he can feel Takeshi getting antsy with his sword, the Asari blade singing its bloodlust. To his other side, Gokudera is cradling his injured arm and counting fingers. And behind, Bianchi and Reborn are doing something with what seems to be a bento box.

“Well then, here we are.” He makes the others stop so he can send a quick message to the others. “Kokuyo Health Center, a relic of old ages when we still had time to do fun things. The last floor tends to crumble and the walls break easily-”

“It is one of our tourist attractions! It is full of zombies and weird demons-”

“Takeshi, don’t lie, there are no weird _demons_ -”

He doesn’t get to finish chastising Takeshi, as Gokudera pulls him back and away just in time to evade a falling _rock_.

He blinks at the crater on the ground in shock, and then at what caused it: it is not a rock, it is a boy. A boy heavy enough to leave a crater where he lands, and had they been hit by that it would have been painful. A mass of pure muscle and a tiny head, topped with a mop of blond hair, one arm messily bandaged and, right, this is somehow the very same boy Hide fought yesterday to protect Gokudera. He is on steroids today, not as slim or quick, but his eyes as he stands up have the same glint of barely contained madness, pain and glee.

Time stops for a second, and Hide can feel so many things it is overwhelming. _Sunshine_ , Giotto whispers, _bright, cheery sunshine_ , and somehow Hide can understand him clearly this time. Gokudera is standing before him, arm still injured, _determination_ , and Giotto hovers around them both like a mother bird. There is a wave of _hate love jealousy_ **_protect_ ** from Takeshi’s side that almost makes Hide’s head break, and an answering one of _hunger rage fun_ from the boy on steroids. Reborn and Bianchi are reaching for Hide and Gokudera, weirdly protective, and when Bianchi takes his arm time comes back.

 _Clang_ , goes the scabbard of a dull sword against a heavy, hard arm of pure muscle, and Takeshi backsteps to change the sword to the other hand. Hide winces at the ugly dent on the scabbard, because he knows Takeshi will whine about it until they can get that fixed, and because, well, the Asari blade is rather delicate in its resting state.

“I don’t think we have met properly before,” Takeshi says, grinning widely as he pulls the dull, rusted, almost crumbling sword from its sheath. “Asari Takeshi. I think I fought your lady friend, three times.” He throws the sheath to the side, and the sudden downpour of _bloodlust_ that covers the area is so strong it forces Hide to pull on Giotto’s defenses to help himself.

He is not the only one. Bianchi is trying to herd Gokudera back, eyes wide and terrified, and Gokudera himself seems to be shaking too much to keep himself standing. Reborn just watches from Bianchi’s head, eyes narrowed, seemingly recalculating everything or something equally stupid; Takeshi’s strength was never kept a secret from him, why is he so surprised?

The blond boy _almost_ whimpers. “You creep me out,” he says instead, too forceful to be natural, but then he somehow grows smaller until he is back to the lean, too thin boy he was yesterday. “Will they attack me if I don’t introduce myself- I think they will, right. Joshima Ken. It’s not nice to meet you, number 2, I thought your name was Yamamoto.”

“It depends on who am I talking to.” Takeshi nods to them as he takes the Asari unsealing stance, still grinning widely. Reborn frowns and Hide laughs at him in his mind. The blond boy raises an eyebrow, but holds a hand to his mouth and puts something between his teeth. “The children are not yours, right?”

“The little demons?” He shrugs, and somehow he looks wilder, rougher, more dangerous. “No, they are _not_!”

Finally, the boy -Ken- lunges at Takeshi, fingers glinting in what Hide believes are the tiny knife-like weapons that hurt Gokudera; Takeshi, at the same moment, drags his hand down the edge of the blade, pulling out the pretty sky blue aura that is characteristic of the Asari sword. They clash, and the aura grows and wraps around them both in such a way it is impossible to see them.

“Well,” Hide takes an still limp Gokudera’s arm, pulling him towards the Health Center wall, “Takeshi can fend for himself, let's go.” They can wait for Takeshi somewhere else; watching the Asari blade in action had always left Hide rather unsettled.

They walk past a little masked demon holding a gun; it nods to them and climbs up a tree, vanishing to keep watch over the fight. Hide shakes his head, because that’s just-

“Why is that here? That’s just weird.” Bianchi speaks up, still sounding a little shaky from the last minute. She occasionally looks back at where they can hear the two fighters, but if they are not going to bring it up, then Hide won’t speak about it.

“I guess Joshima is already in the records.” Records for keeping everyone safe, of course. Fighting is not tolerated unless it is mutually consensual or as discipline action, in Kokuyo. Introducing oneself is considered giving consent in conflict times, for some reason, so that was okay.

“Baka-Hide, you didn’t explain anything at all,” Reborn says when they reach the wall. It is as broken as Hide remembers from a few years ago, thin cracks spreading from the top floor and down, some pieces missing and all windows broken. The emergency door from this side broke long ago, so he pushes it open and, after peering inside, sits down by the wall.

“Alright. Kokuyo rules. Listen closely.”

He starts listing the main rules of Kokuyo that are different from Namimori for his outsiders to become more local than they already are, except for Reborn who is still a jerk. Hopefully, by the time he is done, Takeshi will be back already.

* * *

**021**

**Memories of the Asari**

Takeshi watches Hide and the others leave from the side of his eye and then, and only then, does he let the full onslaught of emotions and skills tied to the Asari blade surround and control him as he never does when in front of his best friend. He lets his limbs be tied by invisible strings that belong to dozen Asari who once used the sword, dozen Asari who hated and loved and protected as he now does; blue is tinted in black and black spreads through the blade.

 _I once had a friend named_ G _-_ , a voice says in the back of his mind, and he sweeps down with the sword to block another attack. Joshima Ken is strong, but he is not as strong as a dozen Asari can be when they work together in unison. Not that they ever work in unison, because Takeshi has never in his life managed to fully reach the state of concentration needed to use all their skills while still being _himself_.

 _I loved him so much his blood was so warm_ , the voice continues, and then it changes to another, a constant scream that goes on and on and slowly quiets and always unnerves him.

Ken lands a hit, then another, and if Takeshi still cared as much as he did in the past about baseball he would be worried right now. He cares. He loves baseball, but he loves Hide more. If he had to choose between protecting baseball and protecting Hide, then the choice was made when he was still a child. _Watch my back and I will watch yours_ , and all that.

 _There was once a man I admired_ , the voice of his mother says, and her hand holds his own to switch the grip and stab forth. Slice to a side, up and down; his wrist shatters then, when Ken in what he calls ‘Gorilla channel’ grips him and squeezes. He retreats, and his mother retreats as well, and he returns to the unsealing stance: sword held vertically before him, hilt at shoulder length and blade towards the ground, holding the edge with his free, broken hand.

 _I am swordsman of tundra_ , an unknown Asari says, and Takeshi _feels_ something pull from deep inside himself, something that numbs his side, his broken arm. He can’t feel it, but the other swordsman can, and when he attacks once again the sky blue and black waterdrops are twisted, greenish waves that make Ken hold his arm in shock.

 _I once had a friend named G_ , the voice says again, and the bright blue and black return, stronger than ever, _but then I had to_ kill _-_

The voice stops, and it takes Takeshi a few seconds to realize it is because his blade has fallen. He still holds the hilt, but his blade is dulling, rusting before his eyes right besides a wide-eyed Ken.

Ken grins, one claw ready to strike, and then there is a shape behind him and he slumps down, knocked out.

“Darling, Haru’s home~”

Takeshi snorts, picks up the blunt wooden _tantou_ Haru dropped after she hit Ken accurately in the back of the neck to pose cutely, and then picks up his blade. He looks around for the sheath, which he threw somewhere, while Haru works in tying up Ken to a tree.

“That’s one down, score, one Haru, zero Kokuyo!” Haru cheers to herself while Takeshi puts his sword back together. She already has in her hands a first aid kit she pulled out from nowhere, and Takeshi is getting the feeling of his wrist back so he better get that bandaged.

“I think you mean, one Takeshi, half Haru,” he says after he sits down, Haru kneeling next to him to check his wounds. He has scratches and bruises everywhere, as well as a cracked wrist; Hide is going to kill him, probably, if he sees him like this. The most painful wound is still his sword, though.

“Just Team Haru then.”

Haru is unusually gentle when she is treating wounds, and he suspects this is not the first time she has treated a broken limb. He feels a little bad for stealing Hide’s personal nurse, but they seemed to be fighting by this morning still, so he will not worry much about that.

“That one looks pretty bad,” she says, motioning to the sword. It does look really bad: the blade is cracked at the hilt, where countless of times it had gotten fixed and refixed until it shortened to the current length. The Asari blade stopped being a pretty sword so long ago; Tsuyoshi always feel bad about displaying it next to his own, but well…

It is Mother’s sword.

“I will get it fixed later.”

After a short while, when Takeshi is finally back to reality and all his wounds have been dressed, he stands guard as Haru cleans the worst of Ken’s injuries for common courtesy. Being tied up, injured and maybe concussed, they both doubt he will be moving anytime soon, but still they tighten the bonds before leaving.

Maybe they can get a short break before things get bad again.

* * *

**022**

**For Love**

Somehow, he knew something bad would happen sooner than later if they waited for Yamamoto for too long. Hayato had always known Yamamoto was a freak, so waiting for the freak would make something equally freaky happen, right? Something bad did happen, but not how he was expecting it to.

He was expecting to be attacked from behind by Hibari, or by the leader, or something equally bad. Instead, they were attacked suddenly, but by something so obvious it was easy to block. He was glad he was carrying some nitroglycerin at the time, for throwing it in the sped up frequency the clarinet put it in made it explode right away, allowing them enough time to get ready before the girl could attack again.

Now, he watches as his sister’s poisoning is forced to explode before it is even ready. It is an interesting skill, really, but Hayato has no time to analyze it further as he has to keep moving to not get caught by it.

“Take my love!” The girl, who introduced herself as M.M., yells before she blows her clarinet again. Bianchi leaps to the side and then makes a dash ahead, but then Decimo is the one yelling:

“She has nunchucks!”

Bianchi swears and retreats, and Hayato agrees with her decision. She is _good_ at close range, but not enough to fight someone who uses such a complex weapon. M.M. glares at Decimo, who just laughs- and then yelps when a demon child hits his arm with a sword-like branch.

“Do you like my children?” M.M. smiles, motioning for another demon child attack, this one standing in a standard martial arts stance. Both of them wear the Kokuyo school uniform and masks, so Hayato assumes they are not actually wildlings like the one from back at the freak’s fight. “They understand love~”

“So you paid them?” Decimo nods at Hayato, and they change opponents smoothly enough. He blocks his new masked foe’s attack with Mamma’s briefcase, using it as a mace. “That’s against the rules- Aw, Maelstrom style? C’mon!”

Unfortunately, he cannot look back at Bianchi or Decimo while trying to knock out this child, but he can hear pretty well how Reborn keeps a running commentary. And Bianchi’s:

“You understand _nothing_ of love!”, coupled with M.M.’s:

“Money can buy _everything_ ! Including _love_!”

It is such a girly discussion (and this child he is fighting seems to _also_ be a girl), Hayato wants to shake his head at it. He is fighting with a single hand, though, so he can’t afford to get distracted (step back, left, back again, duck). Asides from the demon child’s attacks, he also needs to watch out for the girl’s clarinet waves; he is _pretty sure_ he still has some vials of nitro on himself.

Then come the two voices he least expected to hear right now. Or well, one he hoped to hear, one he never expected to hear in this area of Kokuyo:

“ _Hahi_!? Hide-san is fighting!”

“So they are. Go Haru, I chose you!”

“It doesn’t work that w _OAH_!”

Somehow, he ends up back to back with Decimo, who seems to have already taken care of his Kokuyo child. Why are children so ridiculously strong and resistant in this whole island, anyways? Should this be normal? Are they being controlled or is this just their natural behavior? Every single one of them!

“I am pretty sure interrupting a fight is _also_ against the rules,” M.M. says from somewhere behind him, and he can hear chains clinking against each other and something of reasonable weight spinning around. The recognizable smell of Bianchi’s cooking comes back, and then there is the rhythmic tapping of Haru’s feet when she steps in place ‘all ninja-like’, as she likes to say,

“Haru is a Warrior of Love! If you insult love, then Haru will strike you down!”

“I agree. We need to protect that which we love. That is why we learn and perfect ourselves!”

“Your love is worthless! What is the point if you have _nothing_ to show for it!? It is _pointless_ ! You _are pointless!_ ”

Hayato finally manages to knock out his opponent, amazed she lasted that long being knocked around by a briefcase with a gun and who knows how much ammunition. He drops the briefcase to cradle his arm, because damn if it doesn’t hurt, and turns around to watch the women’s fight, vaguely noticing Yamamoto taking the kid to put her somewhere else.

They seem to be in a stalemate.

Bianchi is somehow holding about a dozen tiny appetizers, bubbling and boiling as they are, and she has blooming bruises all around her arms. She is favoring her left foot and her clothes are torn in the most unexpected places. Otherwise, she looks pretty well, furious as well.

Haru is alright, having gotten here just a short while ago. Her arms are uncovered, with light scratches around her wrists and hands from where she seems to have blocked and held the nunchucks. She keeps doing that step-in-place thing on her toes, holding her _tantou_ in a reverse grip before herself.

M.M. is standing to the other side, the nunchucks end wrapped around one hand. She is the one who looks the best out of the three, since Bianchi’s poison is consumption and Haru needs to get far too close to actually do any damage; there are only some bruises and cuts in her hands.

More of a 2-vs-1, it looks like a three-way showdown. Somehow, Hayato wouldn’t be surprised if the three attacked each other without care for sides. Women are weird like that, and while Bianchi and Haru _acted_ like they liked each other, they were always a little strained when in each other’s presence.

On an unknown cue, the three leap forth. There is a moment of confusion, then Haru hits the cracked wall back first, and M.M. falls to the ground, foaming from the mouth.

And then, the cracked wall _cracks_ , and Decimo is running to grab Haru before the heavy pieces of debris fall on her, and Bianchi is also rushing to pull M.M. away from the danger zone, and _Yamamoto_ is there, grabbing Hayato and pulling him away.

It is loud, louder than a explosion; the sound of what seems to be tons of material falling atop itself, breaking past the _ground_ and vanishing down below. Hayato blinks, watching the fragment of a whole wall disappear under the spot where they had previously stood, and blinks again when he looks at Yamamoto.

“What.”

“Construction mistakes,” the baseball-sword freak says, frowning, and he has other expressions besides smiles, amazing. “And cheap materials. Hide, ok?”

“Alright. Haru as well. Bianchi-san?” Decimo’s voice seems to come somewhere _far, far away_.

“Everything hurts. Reborn.” Hayato will never admit he is relieved his sister is well.

“Here. Let’s get ourselves treated.”

* * *

**cloud interlude**

**prince**

Ever since he was a child, Hibari Kyoya lived in the clouds.

Not literally. He was the kind of child that was uncaring for everything around him, from his family to his peers, much like his own mother was uncaring of even her own son. He was raised a third by his own, small self and his small, overly young father, a third by Kusakabe Chiyo and her family, and a third by other Namimori-born people (all citizens of old town, of course); this made him be really quirky about many things, which he could get away with as people simply didn't care (or feared him) enough to tell him not to do some things.

The first, and weirdest, thing he remembers from his youth is his brother-father's eighteenth birthday. Yes, he actually remembers it, as he was the one small, baby guest who was actually a child (two and a half years old is _still_ a baby), accompanied by the other small, baby guest who was _not_ a baby. It is also the first memory he has of _that man_ , because apparently that particular day was the first time Fon visited Mei Li after her trainwreck wedding.

Kyoya promised himself, really early on and even making a pinky promise with his brother-father, he would _never_ get involved in the drama that is his family. _Never_. Now, when he is fifteen going to sixteen, he knows that if he ignores Mr. K’s constant visits, then Mr. K will ignore him as well. If he ignores Fon's meddling, then Fon will not meddle with him.

However, after he learned the truth behind Namimori, ignoring _everything_ became harder and harder. Ignoring that which was true while denying the falsities of the land meant practically not even existing, denying the truth and ignoring the false would be ridiculous. Accepting everything, though, was impossible: he would have gone insane long, long ago, simply out of self-preservation.

He denies Kokuyo. He denies the beacon’s need. He denies the creeping doom, impending dread approaching from Mr. K’s side and mind and self. He denies.

Even now, he denies what is happening. He lost to someone, someone who was using _his_ Tsunayoshi as bait. Someone who had attacked _his_ people, injuring them almost fatally. Someone who had disturbed the peace of _his_ town, simply by existing, by coming in and by being here.

He denies.

There is a loud, loud sound outside, and Hibari Kyoya opens his eyes for what seems like the first time in days.

He is in Kokuyo. Kokuyo Health Center, with cheap materials and engineering mistakes; a hazard to public safety from the very beginning, and then a stain in the ground and the history of the city.

 _Kokuyo_ , a whole town with its own set of rules, both fiscal and natural, built atop an ancient town and its graveyard. In Kokuyo, it could rain upwards, or it could snow with the sun bright out. Dead animals walked the streets, followed by dead humans with top hats and bandages. Nameless flowers sprouted in the sides of the city, which then they gather and make crowns with, dry to make tiny trinkets which hang in their doors in order to keep out the evil spirits.

‘The flowers keep the lies away,’ his father once told him, one day a blind woman had invited them to her house to drink tea and eat cookies and listen to fairy tales she told like they were her very life. ‘They are called Flames! They come in all colors and can break through the mist and guide you in the night.’

It had been a fun day, a day that didn’t exist anywhere but in his memories any longer.

He wonders, at times, if the blind woman remembers. If the blind woman’s daughter, so meek and frail, remembers how she stood with him before a dozen others, a slingshot in hand and a wild grin in her lips.

He, they, had been four. Four and naïve, like only a child could be.

Not much later, the Judge had asked him out the room, and Kyoya had been stupid enough to not question it, to leave his father-brother and his constant, tired smile alone in the room with the snake of a man. At times he will have nightmares, still, of his manchild of a father’s _screams_ and pleads (he is _only a child_ ), of the fear he felt that night, of all the blood and those dead eyes. At other times, he will have nightmares of the Judge taking his bracelet (with a single purple bead he had made himself), his hands still stained in fresh blood.

He blinks, forcing the memories back past the barrier in his head so he can clear his mind. Being immobile makes his thoughts wander a lot. Kokuyo, he is in Kokuyo (he still has that mask, somewhere), he came here to deal with the people who were protected by the Judge (protect the peace) and looking for his beacon ( _Tsunayoshi_ ). He got beaten, though. By someone, someone who looked a lot like-

“Hibari-san?”

 _That one_. “Shiraishi Nagi,” he manages to somehow cough out, and she appears in his line of sight, all hazy and misty like she always does. For a second, he thinks she is a mirage, but she can’t be a mirage; there is someone physically here, and who would want to be disguised as Kokuyo’s older sister?

“You do not look well,” she says, and it is the understatement of the century. Kyoya feels the broken bones as much as he feels the bruises and cuts littered in every patch of skin. His head hurts so much. “Will you allow me to help?”

He doesn’t know if he ever replied, but he must have, because next he knows he is being moved carefully away from his chosen place (which he chose, willingly) and out of his stiff position. Shiraishi’s hands are deceptively rough, hard and covered in thin scars, yet they are so cold Kyoya lets himself lean on them for just a few seconds.

“You must be really out of it,” a voice says from close by. It reminds him a bit of the bird, the fluffy bird he took a few hours of his confinement to teach his name to. Where did that bird go? Did it leave to die, like all other birds in this building? “You need to go to the hospital, Hibari-san…” Now the voice sounds sad, and even if Kyoya tries to open his eyes it is really hard.

He has spent a lot of the past day in and out of sleep. He looked for a way out, at first. Then he slept. He taught a bird to sing and say his name. Then, more sleep. Musings, and more sleep. He feels sick.

Once again, he falls asleep.

* * *

**023**

**not fit for flight**

Kokuyo Health Center is a dreadful place. Even if the walls weren’t crumbling down, or the floor didn’t crack below them and fall down into the abyss, or the howls of hell hounds didn’t come from the higher levels like an ominous song, it would still be a dreadful place. Like Namimori at nighttime, or Kokuyo at all times, or like Hidetada when he gets in his overly protective moods, like he is right now.

“But really, why are you here? Midori still has classes.” Hide and Haru are leading, for some reason Haru will not bother asking. Her health is better than Gokudera, but worse than Bianchi; both of them are closing their procession of really tired people, keeping a quiet conversation along with Reborn who cannot fight for some reason unknown. Takeshi walks between them, using his sword to aid himself at times.

“Midori is in a state of emergency right now,” Haru says, rubbing her arm with the hand that is not injured. Her back feels bruised, heavy and it hurts to move, but at least nothing is broken. Not like Takeshi, or like Gokudera, who will need to go back to the hospital after this mission is over. “Classes are cancelled.”

“Namimori is the one in emergency state, not Midori.”

“We had a bomb warning.” And it was a really nice event too, Irie had really gone all out this time.

They walk past one of the many huge paired doors in the building, broken and fallen as they are; Hide looks at her in disbelief before he looks inside the room, while Haru checks the one in the opposite side. Both rooms are empty of people, but Haru sees a nest of somethings in a corner and decides to ignore it. Better not pay much attention to anything that is Kokuyo.

“A bomb warning, in Midori,” Hide sighs, and Haru smiles because that is Hide’s amused sigh. Even in such a bad situation, she can still make him laugh, she is such a good friend.

There is a bird chirping from the end of the corridor.

Hide is immediately on guard, with Takeshi following right behind; Haru takes a few steps back to stand behind Hide, besides Gokudera and covering Bianchi and Reborn. The whole reformation goes so smoothly at the unexpected sound of a _bird_ , Haru feels proud of them all, but then she realizes there is no visible threat anywhere.

And then dozens of birds of small to medium sizes descend from the ceiling, sharp knives tied to their beaks (why). They fly between them, the flapping of their wings adding to the cacophony of yells and laughs (that is Takeshi), and Haru has to bring her weapon back out to defend against sharp knives and claws.

She literally cannot see anything past her own hands. She can’t hear Hide anywhere, though she can hear something knocking birds out somewhere, and knows where Takeshi and Gokudera are thanks to their loud laughter and curses, respectively. Bianchi seems to have either retreated or thrown herself down, while Reborn… seems to have taken control of a bird by riding it.

“What are you _doing_!?” Hide’s voice comes from somewhere to Haru’s left, surprisingly close, followed by a swift slash of air and a bird crowing out its demise. She starts making her way to them, keeping close to the wall.

“I have a silver medal in birdback acrobatics.” Hide groans at Reborn’s response, but Reborn has not made much sense since the start. “More importantly, Baka-Hide, go deal with the leader.”

“How do you propose I do that, Reborn, please and thank you.” A sudden lack of feathers in Haru’s face makes her look up. There are still too many birds to count (is this the whole avian population of the island?), but there is quite a few scattered on the floor, either dead or unconscious, around Hide’s feet. Hide, who is looking at a hole in the wall like it is the ugliest thing in the world, with Reborn (riding birdback, indeed, reins and all) hovering next to him. “You want me to go there.”

“I’m not asking.”

Just like that, Reborn makes a whole loop in the air so his bird can headbutt Hide into the hole. He yells a (polite) curse at the baby, who is flying back to wherever he came from, and Haru hurries to try and catch him before he falls too far, because who knows what is past the wall?

She doesn’t get him. A bird sweeps down and pecks her hand, forcing her _tantou_ of her hand, and then there is a _swarm_ behind her.

“You are curiously strong,” a voice calls as she falls, and she can also hear Bianchi yelling behind her. “You made it past the mutt and M.M. easily enough, but can you make it past me?”

She pushes herself up, looking around at this bird-less room. It is a monitoring room, only one screen whole in the wall with the others broken and coughing up sparks every few seconds. Light comes in from the missing window, and there is a tall man next to it, wearing a long coat, a far too wide grin in his face and a hat with a huge bird of prey perched on it. She hopes it is fake. Hide is right besides her, feathers in his hair, staff nowhere to be seen, and he looks either angry or in pain, Haru doesn’t know.

“What is this, a quest game?” Takeshi’s voice comes from the corridor, where the birds are still chirping and flying and being general nuisances by keeping everyone else away from them. Haru admits this whole thing similar to Tsuna’s occasional quest lines around their mad city. Usually they only did it when Hibari left town, because otherwise he would try to join and it would be impossible to win.

“You _fool_ , can’t you pay attention to where you swing that!” Gokudera yells from somewhere else and then there is a small contained explosion almost next to the room they are in. Haru notices Hide cringe and, well, she understands quite well: this building could collapse any second now.

“Hehe, I am sure they must be quite troubled.” The man licks his lip and it is the creepiest thing Haru has ever seen in her life. He spreads his arms, and there is Hide’s staff in his hands. The screen lights up, showing a rather grainy image of what seems to be a birdview of a street. “Now then, Vongola Decimo.” Right, she is _killing_ Hide later, maybe tomorrow. “Your allies are far, your weapons gone, and I have an offer for you.”

Haru wants to share an incredulous look with Hide, because _what_. What does the man mean, his allies are gone? What is she, chopped liver? Does he really think that, because she is a girl and wearing a skirt, she cannot fight?

She stands up, legs trembling. Her practice weapon is gone, sure, but _damn_ if she will let someone walk all over her friends and _herself_ like that. She is in physical pain, but there is nothing more painful than being called useless.

“Listen, old man,” she points at him. Hide is trying to pull her to him, she takes her arm back. “I don’t know who you think you are-”

“My name is Birds~!” The man looks gleeful as he says this and Haru wants to punch him in the face.

“What an original name.” At Hide’s mutter, the man bares his teeth. The image in the screen grows a little neater, but this is Kokuyo quality: still sucks.

“I will have you know I can have your family killed-”

Somehow, Haru feels like laughing. It is just a little ridiculous, this is a game, right? Their reply is immediate:

“Pass.”

The man, Birds, stutters for a half second. Really, even if he was _serious_ about killing their families, that would be so hard to do it would be a little impossible. To pass through the defenses of Namimori, _even_ if Hibari was inactive, and right before Hide’s eyes? _Crazy_.

“Really?” Birds’ eyes narrows, his smile becoming the sort of twisted manic grin Haru rarely glimpses in her father when he has to do desk work at home. She has never believed anything the others say about her father’s job, but at times that smile makes her wonder about it. “Don't you want to see their faces contorted in pain as they scream-”

They cut in once more. “Pass.”

Hide suddenly lets out a small, soft, disbelieving gasp, and it takes Haru a few seconds to realize why. She focuses on the monitor screen, still low quality and displaying the gates up Old Town from an odd angle, but she can see Sawada Nana holding Lambo’s hand, with I-pin at her other side, and a reusable bag in her free hand. It is still early, and if Haru is right then they are still staying with the Kusakabe family, so she guesses this is a children-inspired outing.

“Can’t you see? I own an assassin who is trailing your mother, right at this moment, one of my Bloody Twins!” Birds laughs softly, pulling out a knife from his coat and holding it up. Hide stiffens next to Haru the moment a _thing_ slithers behind Nana, casting an ugly shadow on her. “If you don’t accept my offer, she and the children will die a very painful, gruesome death. I am sure it will be very beautiful, to see her face as it twists into-”

“You talk too much.”

Haru steps back, shuddering slightly as she lets Hide take the stage.

As much as she would like to treat everything like a game right now (plotted and directed by Tsuna from the comfort of his house, with all the enemies being Tsuna’s few friends, with no _real_ danger), she needs to remind herself why she came here. Tsuna and Fuuta, who had been kidnapped; Fuuta and Lancia, who need the others _safe_ ; Hide, who needs something to hold him together before he does something he can’t go back from. Hibari Kyoya, still missing, and the top members of the DC at the hospital.

This is _real_. This man could seriously kill Mamma Sawada.

“All I need you to do,” the tall, creepy man says, “is to stab yourself with this knife here.”

There is a _loud_ explosion from somewhere past the monitors. The _thing_ in the screen drags what seems to be a claw near Nana’s face, and that seems to be enough for Hide. He jumps at Birds, fist ready to punch him, and the man is not fast enough to defend himself even with a staff and a knife at hand. He yells something into the mic Haru assumes he has in his coat, then he is flying backwards into the wall.

The monitor goes too bright for a moment before a black-tinted green fills it from the centre. Haru has just enough time to see the screen short circuit before the whole wall collapses backwards, taking Birds with it.

* * *

 

**023.b**

**In self defense**

Both Lambo and I-pin heard the _thing_ walking behind them long before their reinforcements arrive.

It walked softly, too soft, almost like it was hovering just a little above ground level. No sound came from it, not even that of breathing, heavy or light, or of rustling clothes. It was as if it wasn’t really moving, just… existing, right behind them, following them.

It had been following them for a few streets when Mamma seemed to have enough. Enough of it following them, or enough of it following them with no one noticing, neither Lambo or I-pin know.

“Children, what do you say to a race home?” She looks at them with a bright smile, yet the corners of her eyes strain from the presence behind them. She seems to be itching to turn around and confront the thing, but neither she or the children are willing to face such an _inhumane_ being.

The race is agreed to, and soon the three of them and their unwanted guest are lightly jogging towards the intersection that leads to the older part of town. They are not really racing, as I-pin is probably as fast as the two others, together, but each of them have their own skills they are good at.

As always with everything that is just a little out of normal, no one paid any attention to the weird creature following the three of them. Some people would stop to greet Nana, and she would greet them back, but then they would continue on as if nothing weird was going on. The old man at the moving store bowed at them from where he was sweeping the front of the store, and a little girl pointed at them with wide eyes before her mother took her away.

Finally, they make it to the stone staircase that should lead them home. The thing wavers, as in unwilling to go up, and after making sure no one is around, Nana gives the bag of candy to Lambo and shoos the children past the gate. Of course the children, being Mafia children, only go up a few steps before hiding behind one of the broken stone markers and looking at their caretaker.

The thing still hasn’t, though it is kind of stroking the woman’s cheek, but Nana is checking her bag as if she forgot something. A fat, fluffy canary is floating somewhere to her left, wavering it its flight as if dizzy. There are a few seconds nothing happens at all, then…

Then everything happens at once.

The _thing_ squeezes with one hand out of nowhere, trying to crush Nana’s neck, while the other, with its inhumanly sharp nails, stabs at her heart. Mamma Sawada, equally suddenly, drops to the ground and pulls a pistol out of her bag, spinning in a rush of bright yellow to slam it against the being’s side. The thing retreats, still moving odd and soundless and _too fast_ and then rushes to attack once more.

The canary chirps and gets hit by what seems to be a bolt of lightning, except it is not, because it is actually a screwdriver wrapped in black and green lightning (Lambo _oooh_ s and _aaah_ s and he gets stars in his eyes; I-pin is concerned). The canary seems to simply malfunction, wavering once more before it stops flapping its wings and falls the moment another bolt -this time a pair of tweezers- flies straight at the thing’s face from behind the children.

“MAMM-!” I-pin covers Lambo’s mouth, because he is _stupid_ if he is distracting Mamma when she is in the middle of a battle, but she also pulls him away from Miura Satoshi and Hibari Masato, who she _didn’t sense at all_ when they were standing right behind her. Neither did Lambo, actually, and he stares wide eyed as Hibari senior smiles either kindly or condescendingly before reaching into his hair/weapon storage and pulling out a blue grenade. They are _so confused_.

“You could have killed Nana-san, Sato.” Hibari senior looks patronizing now. He never takes his eyes off the children.

“She is fast enough.” Miura scoffs, and out of nowhere he has his hands full of _office tools_ -I-pin recognizes a ruler and a pencil-, held as if they were kunai. “Have you _seen_ her train the Sawada spawn?”

Mamma indeed evaded the lightning bolt _and_ the creature’s attack, no harm done at all, and a gunshot goes _bang_! It goes unnoticed by the surroundings, except by those watching, and the creature (still unharmed) groans and shakes its head quickly.

“It is weak to loud sounds,” Hibari senior says as he hands Lambo the grenade with a wink, and then he is a few stone steps above them, arms hidden in his sleeves. “Now, bring me that.”

Miura laughs and, with no skill that I-pin can see at all, runs to join Nana at the front lines. Lambo quickly joins the battle as well, some of his sound grenades in hand to distract the thing (it is ridiculously fast, seriously), and I-pin decides that, well, why not. It is experience, and they have back up.

She owes Sawada Nana too much as it is.

 

It is shameful that the battle took as long as it did with four people against one _thing_ , when its clone had apparently only needed of Miura and Hibari Mei Li’s skills for it to be knocked out. I-pin says it is the gap in skill, but Lambo thinks it is because Miura _and_ Hibari have those weird superpowers of theirs. Seriously, lightning fast screwdrivers? He wants that _so bad_ , he really does.

Mamma wasn’t too bad, either. She has no superpowers, but she has some amazing skills with that gun of hers and a terrifying speed. Lambo can see how she gave birth to Baka-Hide and Tsuna-nii, but he cannot understand why she is staying at home when she could be _so much more_? No man deserves her, this I-pin agrees with Lambo: Mamma Sawada is a goddess.

As for Lambo and I-pin… well, both of them need to train more. They share a look and a nod, because they need to be stronger than Mamma in order to _protect_ Mamma, especially when she is surrounded by dangerous men with superpowers and gets attacked by weird, demonic things with no eyes.

“Thank you for your aid, Miura-san, Hibari-san.” Mamma bows to them, and Lambo scowls. Hibari senior did _nothing_ except be a creep! Just like his _stupid_ son, who just went and disappeared, taking Hide with him! How dare he! “We are very grateful.”

“Nana-san! That is quite alright, that’s alright!” I-pin has to hold Lambo back from physically assaulting Hibari Masato. How can someone be so _cheery_ in this situation? “Only doing our job! Or well, Sato’s job.”

Hibari senior and Mamma Sawada smile brightly at Miura, and I-pin coughs at the look of annoyance in Lambo’s face. Lambo has _feelings_ about Hibari Masato, alright, and most of them consist of annoyance and ‘stop stealing Tsuna’ type jealousy.

“Masa-chan, I’ll take this thing down!” Miura has the thing carelessly draped on one shoulders and one second he is there, then he is gone. Like a _ninja_. Except without the leaves, or the smoke, he is just gone! Lambo forgets Hibari and stares at where Miura used to be, wide eyed and mouth open, because where can he train to be a ninja?

He pulls on I-pin’s sleeve. “I-pin, I-pin, did you see, he’s like Haru-”

“Lambo stupid! Miura-san, Haru’s father!” Ow, did I-pin just hit him? How dare her!

Nana looks in resigned amusement as her children brawl on the ground. At least they are safe.

* * *

**024**

**halo**

A loud explosion booms from the lower levels and, for a moment, Mukuro is afraid the floor will collapse under them with no time for them to escape. The building shakes for a few seconds too long, the glass he had painstakingly put up falling back down and breaking, small fragments of concrete falling upon them from the ceiling. He hears an echo of fear in the back of his mind from who he guesses is his elder sister, now closer and louder than ever, resonating with Tsunayoshi’s own jagged mind-whispers for safety.

Finally, it stops. For his own peace of mind, Mukuro reinforces the room once more while checking his network in the background. Ken is still unconscious and apparently safe, Chikusa is somewhere down below not too injured… Lancia is still inside Mukuro’s influence area, but all the interference in the town makes it hard to tell if he is safe. Tsunayoshi, right besides him, in his arms and trying to get away now that the explosion-born tremors have stopped. Seven other conscious presences in the building, non accessible.

Tsunayoshi finally breaks free and steps too far from Mukuro, something that makes him pout. The future Arcobaleno points his scythe at him, and he would look _almost_ threatening if he didn't look like a fluffy puppy trying to be menacing. Mukuro wants to pat his head, but the eyes make him stay away. They are _glowing orange_ , and he is pretty sure they were originally brown.

“Oya, Tsunayoshi, should you really point that at your master.” Not that he has anything on Tsunayoshi right now. He could have taken the pacifier, but that would be a cruel and unusual punishment, so he has decided to trust his trident.

“You would not _let go_ of me.” The boy’s eyes narrow slightly, but then he is back to the almost-expressionless face he had adopted as his ‘I am possessed, I didn’t lose a bet’ persona. Almost, because no matter how much control Mukuro tried to snatch away, he could never get the lonely look off his eyes. “I am not a safety blanket.”

“Fufu, you are cuddly, Tsunayoshi.”

Tsunayoshi huffs and shifts the scythe so the blade is pointing downwards again, leaning against his foot when he sits back down on their old, ratty couch. Mukuro has wondered a lot the past couple of weeks, but he would really like to know _who_ taught Tsunayoshi to wield the scythe like he does. He knows he will not get an answer if he asks directly unless he is a victory ahead, unless he wants a repeat of yesterday’s incident, so he sits besides him and reviews the board.

“I believe it was your turn, Mukuro- _sama_.”

It is Checkers, this time. It is looking really bad for him.

They have made two moves when Mukuro feels one of the foreign presences outside his door. Familiar. Not the Vongola, who would have made the door explode or yelled something about discipline. No, this one is quiet, barely there, hazy and mirage-like, lightly brushing to his senses like a mirror to his own-

“Nagi-san,” Tsunayoshi whispers, and Mukuro feels his heart stop.

(Except not really, that already happened once and it was pretty bad. He doesn’t want that again.)

The door opens and Mukuro has many, many memories, but none of them got him ready to face his sister. He is not prepared for this, not prepared to face his supposed-family, to accept he may be _real_ ? He may have had a _family_ , and he did not, because _people are terrible_ . He may have been raised in this hell city where unneeded people are killed, but he doesn’t know it that is better or worse than being _experimented on_.

Tsunayoshi steps before him, scythe held high.

Shiraishi Nagi looks… really similar to him. A little shorter, not as thin, her hair a shade lighter and falling in uneven strands around her shoulders. The shape of her face, of her eyes (both the same color), is the same that Mukuro sees whenever he looks in a mirror, the very same ‘soft’ features that M.M. claimed made him look ‘beautiful’. A long earring with two indigo beads hangs from her left ear, and Mukuro remembers another earring he once had, long forgotten back in Italy.

“Kaiji?” Her voice is quiet, far reaching, with a lack of confidence yet the tone of someone used to being heard. Her posture betrays her feelings, or maybe Mukuro is too used to reading people: she is anxious, scared, yet not afraid to make her point. A short baton is held in two hands before her, and strapped to her legs are two others others of similar length: a staff to his trident, then.

“Nagi-san.” Tsunayoshi’s empty voice speaks up as he widens his stance with the scythe, readying himself to attack. Mukuro is a little happy he doesn’t have to respond to his _sister_ right away.

“Tsu- Sawada-san.” She lowers her defense, blinking at Tsunayoshi like she can’t believe what she is seeing. Hibari Kyoya had reacted quite the same, at first, and Fuuta had said Tsunayoshi never fought, so maybe it is that? “I only want to talk.”

“You may speak from over there,” Mukuro says, finally standing up, using his trident to help steady himself. He is pretty sure he is trembling, if the weakness of his legs tells him anything, but he can’t show that to other people; can Nagi see through illusions? Is she as skilled as he is with them?

“K- Kaiji.” She sounds as if she will cry from seeing him and looks like she wants nothing but to see him gone. He doesn’t know her at all, but it _hurts_.

Was she the one whose thought echoed even as they traveled the world, even back with Estraneo? The one who supported him in death and guided him back to life? Was she the brave, wild child he met in his dreams, once when hope was still something to be had? The part of his memories he could never find?

“I am sorry,” he says, and it is the truth. He is sorry, for everything that has happened that involves him. However… “But I am not your brother.”

Shiraishi Kaiji died _long_ ago. He died on an experiment table, or even on a contraband ship. He might have been a Shiraishi once. Might have belonged to Kokuyo. Now, not so much, for Shiraishi Kaiji died for Rokudo Mukuro to be born, and he feels _comfortable_ being who is he is. Hell Wanderer, Six Paths master, many people through the ages, a single soul.

Nagi looks like her whole world collapsed under her feet and was rebuilt in the same second. “Then,” she says, the shade of a smile in her lips, “may I ask for your name, so that I may ask you to leave?”

“Why, of course, dear Nagi.” He steps past Tsunayoshi, who still looks quite blank, but feels almost content. Giving a small bow to his old self’s older sister, he introduces himself. “Rokudo Mukuro, at your service. Unfortunately, I cannot leave just yet, but I will keep your suggestion in mind for when my business is over.”

“It was not a suggestion, Rokudo-san.”

Suddenly, Nagi is all business and, in a movement reminiscent of Mukuro’s own, puts the three pieces of her staff back together as it should be. She slices the air and out comes a dog, at least three times her size, with black fur and far too big fangs. Mukuro smirks, hitting the floor with the end of his trident for the plants to grow, and gets ready for the hellhound’s attack; with a quickly conveyed message, Tsunayoshi spins the scythe to fix the size and moves to a side to wait for an opening.

“Ro, intruders!”

And with that, and a howl that pierces the ears off every person in the building, the hound pounces.

* * *

**sun interlude**

**stardust**

“We can’t go in, you creep.”

Kyoko stands at the southern border of Midori-Kokuyo, between two of the smallest guardian gates Fuuta has ever seen since he started paying attention. Her back is turned to them so they can’t see her face, but her voice tells them she is _extremely_ annoyed. With good reason, too.

A hurricane of misty playing cards, leaves, stones and black flames swirls around her, slowing down slightly before it slams itself once more against the immovable force that is the Kokuyo barrier. It retreats, changes directions at an impossible speed and does it again; for a few seconds Fuuta can see Daemon’s scythe leaving a sharp, deep gouge on the invisible barrier.

“I said, we can’t go in.” Kyoko repeats herself, shaking her head slightly from inside the hurricane. A shape that looks only barely like Daemon reveals itself above her, wrapped in dreadful black, and he swings towards the barrier with what seems to be all his strength. “You won’t get through, it is-”

The attack bounces back. Fuuta yelps and drops to the ground, covering his head with his hands; that is _terrifying_. He hears Hana yelling from her spot besides Ken, and feels more than sees Kikyo lowering the flame construct he raised around himself.

“-it is blocked, you _inconsiderate jerk_!”

Kyoko is yelling at Daemon, and she is _loud_. Really, really loud, and using language no ten years old anywhere should know, slipping into what seems to be some mix of Italian and French, then Japanese, then just French. As Fuuta gets up, he notices the hurricane has slowed down into a weak spinning wind around Kyoko, who is waving her hands around to dispel it.

A shape shows up in the almost invisible path to Kokuyo. Lancia, who they had sent to check out the situation, finally comes back. He is walking too calmly for anything to be really happening, carrying an unconscious M.M. in his arms with her nunchuck hanging from his shoulder. Shouichi is not with him, either.

“Good news is,” Lancia begins, once he has evaded Kyoko and Daemon’s discussion zone and laid M.M. down next to Ken, “almost everyone from Namimori seems to be safe.” He politely turns away when Hana begins tending to M.M., deciding instead to see once more to Ken’s bandages. Fuuta kneels besides him, anxious for news, because that is his _family_ in there. “Bad news is, a whole wing of the building collapsed in a explosion. Birds is dead, one of Namimori’s is… unknown.”

Even Kyoko and Daemon go quiet at that. Hana, in what seems to be the only display of not forced emotion Fuuta has seen from her all morning, digs her fingers in her thighs with eyes wide and lost. Kikyo clicks _something_ , may be a lighter or a gun safety, before he is reaching into his pocket for his phone, walking away to make his call. Lancia bows his head, as if ashamed of the news he has brought.

Fuuta feels the empty space in his heart widen, the fearsome Namimori slipping past as he tries to make sense of what Lancia has said. One of Hide’s friends -or maybe Hide, or Tsuna-, is… unknown? _How_ ? They were the strongest people in the school! They couldn’t just fall, or disappear, or… or get hurt like that, right? Hide and Haru rank so high in speed, Takeshi and Hibari rank _really high_ in strength, Bianchi is a professional for Sky’s sake, Hayato is first in resourcefulness _in the city_ (category minors, and excluding, well, _them_ ). None of them had thought Reborn would really be needed until, well…

Missing? Unknown? What about Mukuro? Chikusa? _Tsuna_? Could Tsuna go missing, in this town that needs him to survive?

He wants his book.

There is a crash again, the hurricane picking up around Kyoko once more. The rage of a mad spirit and its medium against an impenetrable wall wakes the others up from their shock, the stones and cards and bouncing balls and flames striking the same spots countless of times in a second. Daemon is like a shrieking banshee to everyone’s senses, even if they can’t hear him.

Hana returns to M.M., her hands working quick yet her eyes still partly focused on the path to Kokuyo. Lancia realizes nothing else can be done for Ken and gets up, placing a heavy hand on Fuuta’s shoulder when he follows.

“They will be alright,” he says, making himself believe, because if he can’t then who will?

“They are all strong. Of course they will be.”

Lancia ruffles his hair and his hand is heavy, heavier than Hide’s and Nana’s and maybe that is what a father’s touch would feel like, but Fuuta doesn’t know. His family is scattered and in danger, and if he is considering his kidnappers family as well, then that’s his problem and no one else’s.

“We are ready to go,” Kikyo calls from behind him, and the white dragon wrapped around his head like a marshmallow crown makes a pretty circle around Fuuta before flying off. “But we have another problem.”

Hana and Fuuta share a glance; Kyoko is still raging at the barrier. They are ready for the worst news, by now.

“The Vindice are offshore. We have two hours.”

...Except that one.

(Thinking clearly a short while later, two hours is awfully generous of them. Fuuta will have to thank his fellow informant after this whole mess is over with.)

* * *

**mist interlude**

**peasant**

It began two, three weeks ago.

He had always been a little odd. His childhood had been hard, littered with cases of bullying or reports of him doing things no one else should do, or being _freaky_ . He couldn’t help it, though: he had a diagnostic of… something, which he forgot, but for which he took medication to deal with. It didn’t help much, but it did help a lot for him to manage _himself_ better.

He had finally been well enough that grandma had trust him with a phone of his own, and let him go out and make friends. He didn’t, but he did get to talk with more people than just grandma and the old neighbour with the cats, and he considered that a good enough progress for a long time. About a year ago, grandma had even got them a trip to Brazil, and he had been looking forwards to it a lot, because he likes the jungle, and trees, and green things.

Then, two, three weeks ago, it began.

It started with blank messages. Blank, or with just a dot, or a comma. He had thought they were misfires at first, but they would come always, every few hours, scheduled and on the dot. Then, they evolved, becoming real messages, and it became creepy.

_Hi fran. (:_

_How are you today fran_

_Why arent you answering fran_

_Oh right this is a private number_

Then it would stop. Except, a few hours later, it would start again ( _hi fran (:_ ), carrying on conversations with itself for a few messages until it began again ( _hi fran (:_ ), with whole new messages and new conversations.

Then the calls started. Just calls, that would ring once and hang up, twice and hang up, three times and go silent, and if he picked up he would be greeted with silence. Silence, or at times a soft whisper ( _hi fran_ ) and he would hang up _so fast_ , impossibly fast, because _why_.

Grandma noticed, of course. She had wanted to cancel their trip, but Fran didn’t want her to cancel _their trip_ , the trip she had been waiting for for a whole year, and he couldn’t ruin that for her. Yes, he was paranoid, but he had been paranoid all his life until his meds had kicked in, this wasn’t new.

_Hi fran_

_Brazil is nice this time of the year_

They should have cancelled their trip.

Even now, waiting for help to come in his small niche under the debris, using his magic superpowers to keep it from collapsing on his unconscious grandma and on about twenty other people, the phone keeps blinking with new messages. Phone lights are the only lights he can see asides from the dim light coming from far, far above and, though he doesn’t want to read the messages in his screen (his only family is _right here_ ), he can’t help but to notice them every time they show up. There have been four, since the explosion.

_How is it down there fran_

_Hope your grandma is well ):_

_Dont worry help is coming_

_Not for you though_

He shudders. He is _not_ scared, he is just cold. He is dressed lightly and all his clothes are in his bag (which is buried, somewhere), and he can’t use his weird magic to keep himself warm as most of his concentration is going towards keeping the whole airport from collapsing on them. Maybe, _maybe_ he could imagine something that could push the debris out of the way, but that would be even more unreal than… this.

He hugs his knees closer to himself, looking around. He doubts any of the people here have noticed the metal beams have been growing, right? None of them are paying much attention to them, instead focusing on either yelling up the hole above them, or sobbing on the ground with each other. A kind looking woman is acting as nurse to his grandma, and for that Fran is grateful. Another man with his daughter offered him some water earlier, and for that he is more grateful.

A blond boy in a heavy long, black coat seems to be looking at Fran, but his eyes are not really visible past his hair and- is that a tiara? Does he ever stop smirking? Next to him, there is a small girl in the same, or a similar coat (part of some uniform?) tending to an elderly man’s injuries; he doesn’t seem to be related to them at all, if the boy’s previous reluctance to let her approach the man was anything to go by.

A new message arrives. _I want to see you soon_ , it says, and Fran almost drops the control he has over his beam-bending magic. He is shaking, trembling, and he doesn’t want to see this stalker anytime, not now, not ever, thank you.

Whoever it is, they made an airport blow up. Why? For _Fran_? Why would anyone do that? That doesn’t make sense.

Something falls on his back, something heavy and warm and it doesn’t make him stop shaking, but it is a small comfort in this darkness, that someone sits next to him to share their coat with him. He knows who its is: the blond boy is not sitting next to the first aid girl anymore -she is looking at him with wide, twinkling eyes-, yet he doesn’t feel himself able to look up at the boy anymore than he feels able to stand up.

“You are leaking everywhere, peasant.” The boy, a teenager, makes a creepy sound that could be either a laugh or a curse spell. He is, indeed, wearing a tiara, but Fran ignores it because his hair looks like the fluffiest thing. But what does he mean by leaking? “You helped the Prince, so the Prince will help you.”

“You help me by being warm, m’lord.” Fran wants to… maybe take a nap, but he can’t. He is warm, and he needs to keep up the beams, because this is _his fault_ and he may not feel much about many things, but his _grandmother_. “I just-”

“Silence, peasant.” The boy makes as if to slice him with something and Fran is too lazy to dodge so he just lets it hit. He could be beheaded now, but he is not. “You are focusing on all beams as single constructs, right, because it makes them more defined? But we don’t need them more defined, they take too much energy as single constructs.”

Fran… doesn’t know what to say. He is focusing on each beam as a single construct, yes, because that should make them more real. Actually, he has never tried _not_ focusing on his magical superpowers in specific constructs, that always seemed stupid to him? But well, he had never had anyone tell him to _not_ do it, either, so he doesn’t know any better.

He stays silent. The boy grins and pulls three knives from somewhere, weird shaped knives that he holds through a wire between both hands and makes it seem as if they are floating. Then, each of them go up in flames, and Fran would jump back, but he doesn’t, because he is too busy trying to process what just happened.

“The Prince doesn’t do illusions,” the blond says, once again doing that odd curse spell sound. The knives stop being in flames, then they go up in flames again, wire and all, and it is… different. It feels different. _Really_ different. “But he knows some tricks. Peasants should listen and watch and maybe they will learn so we will not all be crushed under the airport, right?”

“Right.” He thinks he gets where the… Prince is going to with this.

Fran looks up. The beams glow to his sight, five huge constructs that branch out into each other, holding up the makeshift dome they are resting in. Turning them into a single one… He can do that, just needs to stop seeing them as _single things_ and see them as a whole picture. The problem is, how long will it take for him to do that?

His phone rings. His heartbeat speeds ( _hi fran_ ).

The Prince picks up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No excuses. It has been ages. Hopefully Warsong (2) will not take as long.
> 
>  **On:** maxillaria. A genus of orchid, Spanner's. I had the why on my notes, but they were lost along with half these eps' earlier drafts a while ago so...
> 
>  **On:** tiny colorful stones. They have always been there, but their purpose is weird. It will be explained... next chapter, and the one next to it.
> 
>  **On:** Ro, the giant dog. The Shiraishi have a long history of breeding hunting or guard dogs, especially training some cubs from the canine species endemic to Namimori. Affectionally nicknamed _hellhounds_ , these wolves are the source of many legends of shades and monsters arising from the shadows. Ro is an unusually large individual himself, but not as big as people claim he is, even if he does tend to startle people by showing up out of nowhere. He obeys Nagi always; Natsumi uses him as a live pillow and Shigeru often rants at him about life in general.
> 
>  **On:** Bel. He is really OOC, but then again, he's stupid when it comes to Fran. They are both stupid with each other.


	19. warsong (1.5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A return, an explanation, a preview

**025**

**meltdown**

There are birds everywhere.

There are birds everywhere and he can't see anything past their fluttering wings. The amount of birds in the hallway give a new meaning to Tsuna's 'sky rats' insult: they are annoying vermin, they are everywhere, they are multiplying like bunnies. For some reason, the birds are carrying knives and at times they even _explode_ , and Takeshi feels just a little glad he was never queasy about animal… insides.

He will be needing a long shower after this, though. That his father occasionally comes back covered in substances of unknown origin doesn't mean Takeshi can just do the same. He has a reputation, small as it is, to uphold. Besides, his mother would be sad, if she was still around.

He slashes downwards. Two down. A hundred to go.

He can't hear Hide, or Haru either, but he can hear Gokudera closeby enough. Gokudera's voice is loud, even in the cacophony of the bird wings: easily recognizable as Gokudera, who tends to spend all his club hours yelling in the chemistry lab so loud it can be heard all the way down in the fields. Why is he thinking about this right now? He should be killing birds.

It is uncomfortable, killing birds with a blunt sword held by the edge. He feels less like a swordsman and more like a baseball player, but the idea of killing birds with a baseball bat makes him uncomfortable anyways, so it is… kind of terrible. Like he will forget about how to be a swordsman, again, by relying too much on swings and not enough in slashes. Using the Asari sword as a blunt weapon is just _wrong_ , and he can't even kill birds properly.

"Yamamoto," a chirpy baby voice calls from behind him. Reborn, then, back from wherever he was supposed to be. Does he know where Hide is? Where Gokudera is? Does he know if Bianchi is still around? "This way."

It never occurs to him to not listen to Reborn. He is not the one with trust issues, here.

Takeshi quickly clears the birds around him in a half spin, sending them scrambling back with their broken wings and possibly broken bodies. The direction Reborn spoke from is clear, which is alright, because why wouldn't it be clear? It is _Reborn_ , supposedly the best hitman in the world, with who knows how many kills to his name. possibly more than all of Namimori combines, at any case, but-

"Watch out!"

Gokudera's voice is half a second too late, and Takeshi is left staring at

_nothing calm down nothingness in blue relax and black sleep sweet takeshi_

bright, thin, silver sticks sharpened to unreal thinness, barely there but in his _shoulder_ and it _hurts so much mom help me please let me out_

a boy with a beanie smiling blankly at him and speaking, with Reborn _Michiko-sanKawahira's cold eyes and a surge of icy cold green numbness_ voice: "Sleep."

* * *

**026**

**execution**

Hayato knows Yamamoto has fallen because of the ear shattering scream that comes from him. It is a shrill shriek, pure terror and helplessness and emotion Yamamoto has never expressed in the real world before, a loud eye opener to the truth that Hayato had tried to keep himself blind to. It is a sound made of nails on a chalkboard, of breaking glass, of high pitched squeals as children struggle to get away and free.

It is something Hayato never thought he would ever, ever in his _life_ , hear coming from Yamamoto of all people.

Yamamoto had always been a steady stone next to Decimo's, next to _their_ side, unmovable and constantly cheerful, constantly smiling, with a passion for a pointless game and a terrifying skill with his sword. He had been _there_ , just there, always trying to show off the only way he could, always surrounded by people who admired him, always willing to help in the oddest possible way. He had been support for Decimo always, stronger than Hayato and all of Namimori Middle, he who could speak in a crowded hallway and make the crowd go silent in awe, in fear, in that weird sort of confusion that dragged around everyone related to the old families.

Not this Yamamoto.

The birds scatter, possibly an instinctual reaction to the call for help of a predator. Finally able to see where he is and where everyone else is, Hayato gives himself a short moment to recalculate the situation. He still has his briefcase, his arm is still broken, he has some injuries from the bird assault; nothing to worry about for now.

He feels frozen, but time feels frozen as well even as he looks around for Decimo (not here) and other people. No Haru either. Reborn on a bird a distance away, gun out, pacifier blazing yellow. Bianchi to the other side, leaning on a wall for support. Yamamoto, kneeling on the ground and holding his arm instead of his (injured) shoulder, clear blue eyes quickly darting left and right in a way that tells Hayato he is not really home; breathing is too fast, possibly a panic attack, let Bianchi deal with it. Beanie boy (enemy) too close to Yamamoto (danger), scrambling back to hide in a niche or passageway in the wall.

Hayato throws the briefcase at him.

Maybe that was not the smartest move, with only one hand: it is a weak throw that doesn't reach its target, not quite. The briefcase hits the wall with a loud _thunk_ , snapping the other two out of their daze and into movement. Yamamoto doesn't react.

Bianchi is by Yamamoto's side in an instant, whispering soft words and wrapping an arm around him when she realizes he doesn't care at all. Reborn flies his bird to them in complete silence, jumping off and pulling out a roll of gauze from _somewhere_ even as he makes his bird drag the hilt-less blade out of reach. They make a good team, seamlessly working together the same way Decimo and Yamamoto, or Tsunayoshi and Fuuta do; the same way that makes Hayato feel an ugly stir of jealousy in the back of his mind.

Hayato is not good with panic attacks or flashbacks. That is Bianchi's job. Hayato is not the best at dealing with unseen enemies, either, but he will have to do.

The briefcase has a flare gun, which he leaves untouched (it may be necessary later), some of the small pinkish capsules he is still having a hard time with, and a tiny handgun Hayato stuffs in the one pocket in his clothes made for it. He takes a few seconds to check his dynamite (there are some left) and other tiny vials (none left), then closes the briefcase with a sharp sound-

_swish_

-and throws one capsule back as hard as he can while twisting and scrambling to his feet.

The needle lands far too close to his feet to his liking, buried halfway into the building's floor in a telling angle. Had Hayato been more comfortable with the building and its layout, he would have followed beanie guy into the entrance he disappeared into, _again_. Instead, he leaves Yamamoto to Bianchi and Reborn ('take care of this, sis-' 'just go already!') and follows the soft footsteps down the corridor.

Beanie guy is sneaky and doesn't stay still for longer than the few seconds he needs to throw a needle. Fortunately for Hayato, he has quite a good reaction time, not the best, but not the worst. Unfortunately for Hayato, he only has one hand and limited ammunition, which makes counter attacking unfavorable to him with a moving target.

He already knows he is being pulled into a trap.

"You should give up," Fuuta's childish voice calls from a missing piece of the wall, only big enough for a hand. Hayato evades the barrage of needles by dropping low (how, exactly, does he know where to aim?), rolling out of harm's way as he throws a pebble in the attack's direction. "They are all stuck somewhere they will never come back from."

"Shut _up_ , Needles."

A new attack comes from above as Hayato slides past a door, a volley of needles that leaves one dug into his useless arm. He pulls it out in record time, not even feeling the pain of his stabbed nerves, because that's pointless. Feeling pain can be left for later, when he is not engaged in a fight with what seems to be a teleporter.

"You can't even see me, _Hayato_." And that is definitely Tsunayoshi's voice, followed by a creepy, monotone laugh and a yo-yo sweeping at him from a broken window next to the door. Beanie's figure appears long enough to retrieve the yo-yo, then he is gone.

_Not fast_ , Hayato tells himself, backing up against a wall he feels safe enough. Beanie's footsteps as he moves around are quiet enough he almost doesn't notice it, but whatever this room used to be had too many ventilation ducts and an observation window. Maybe an isolation room, barren now, yet-

More needles come from above, and it seems safe enough to duck towards what seems to be a closet, of sorts. Some storage unit anyways, and there is no way the kid can attack from there.

He clicks a lever with his foot and waits.

"The fear of needles is rather widespread," Beanie says, this time with a distorted, saccharine version of Bianchi's concerned voice. The voice comes once more from the observation window. "I feel discriminated against."

Beanie guy drops from a hole before the window. He is all bones and sickeningly white skin, not like the others they have encountered so far who seemed to have seen more sunlight; there is a yo-yo held in each of his hand, each with their own number of thin spikes attached. He rolls them experimentally, almost lazily, and then gives Hayato the emptiest eyes he has seen since Tsunayoshi's.

No, wait, that's a mask. There is also bracelet of sparkling (actually _sparkling_ , it is distracting) blue beads in his wrist. _Kokuyo_ , once again unlike the others. Beanie has assimilated, then; what did Decimo call it? Borderline local?

Hayato puts a hand in one of his pocket.

"Shame." His neutral voice is also about as plain as the mask's painted smile. "I rather like this place."

Beanie attacks, _unnaturally_ fast, and Hayato has just enough time to throw his lighter, _hard_ , into the closet before he ducks to a side.

The last thing Hayato sees is _red._

* * *

**027**

**reunion**

"Sawada Hidetada."

It is a little painful to himself, how fast he can go from the trembling and almost in tears useless teenager at the sight of what used to be the X chamber of Kokuyo Health Center, waiting for his personal ghost to come back, to the attentive child soldier, nameless member of the community standing before Hibari Kyoya. All it takes is a second for him to stand straight, to salute, to steel his eyes and go completely silent as he waits for commands.

He tells himself it is the conditioned behavior. Hibari Kyoya's voice called to attention and it always did, no matter what your current mental state is or what you were thinking about. Before Hibari Kyoya, Hide stops being Hide and becomes another number of the Disciplinary Committee, for the town, the people and the peace.

Where did Hibari come from, anyway?

Hibari doesn't look like he should be standing. Hide catalogues all injuries, wounds and bruises in the back of his mind for later (Tetsuya will _kill_ him), pays little attention to the bandages wrapped around his arms and the cracked tonfa in his hands. There is a tiny yellow fluff ball on his head, a napping bird, and it seems its mere presence will make Hibari collapse. But, if Hibari Kyoya wants to be standing, who is Hide to tell him not to?

No one, that's who.

Hibari stays silent, and his breathing sounds painful; his eyes go from Hide, to the X chamber debris, and back to Hide again. After what seems like hours, he deigns to speak: "Gokudera Hayato will be under watch for attempted suicide. He will be your charge. I expect a status report in a week."

The comforting presence of Giotto wraps itself around him. It broadcasts _safety_ instead of distress, as it had been doing while it looked for Gokudera, and Hide lets himself relax just a little for the first time in the last half hour, maybe, it has been a while.

"Yessir." He nods, relieved. Gokudera is alive, he is coming back to Namimori with them; there are no _ifs_ anymore, because getting out of there may take a while, but he is _alive_ and he is coming back home.

They really need to talk about this self-sacrificial nature of his, all of them. It is not healthy and not fit for a citizen of Namimori. (Deep inside, Hide is still crying. Did he ever hint to Gokudera his life was less important than anyone else's?)

Hibari starts doing short exercises with his tonfa to test them, so Hide considers himself dismissed. He will not question his superior on what happened here. He makes his way back to Haru and Takeshi, clenching his fingers around an invisible staff (unarmed, useless) all the way to them. Bianchi is still trying to reach Gokudera's mind through their sibling love bond, with Reborn trying to console her from her shoulder, and it is all a mess.

Takeshi _is_ looking better, though. He is awake and conscious enough to recognize Hide's presence when he kneels before him, offering a weak smile that should in no way be associated with Takeshi. His shoulder is wrapped in bandages, his arm rests uselessly on his lap and his breathing is still not quite back to normal, but he is alive and his eyes are focused and he is _here_ , in this time, which is what matters.

"Sorry," Takeshi says. Hide wants to bring him back home as soon as possible, but they still need to find Tsuna. Gokudera is missing, Takeshi is too injured to continue and Hide feels like the worst person in the world. "I'll wait here."

"Don't go wandering off, now." Haru huffs from besides him, getting to her feet. She puts the wrapped up sword on Takeshi's lap and pulls a bottle of a familiar yellow substance from her pocket. "Haru'll feed you this if you dare move!"

Hide cringes; next to him Takeshi recoils like he had seen the worst sight in the world. Understandable. They both know how disgusting Haru's painkiller _medicine_ is, having taken it themselves more than enough times.

She may be good at many things, but medicine is not one of them. Tsuna says it is the Miura hands.

Giotto's presence drifts over to Takeshi, all concern and protectiveness, making the swordsman shudder. Normally, Hide would pull his ghostly ancestor back to himself right away, but the thought of leaving his best friend alone back here feels worse than the thought of going ghostless to confront a kidnapper. While Giotto cannot interact with anything in the physical world, this is Kokuyo some way or another, and surely his presence will be useful for something?

"Takeshi, I will _know_ if you move from here." He tries to make his point clear by making an intimidating expression, but as always it only makes Takeshi try hard not to laugh. Well, if he can still laugh at Hide's faulty expressions, then that's alright. He's alright. "We'll be back home soon."

"Just go already."

There's really no point on waiting, so Hide gives a quick hug to Takeshi, projects the most confidence he can for Giotto, and joins Haru and an impatient Hibari by the staircase opposite to the explosion site. Bianchi has given up on Gokudera for now, looking the most furious she has ever been in her stay in Namimori; Reborn has chosen to walk the next few minutes on his own, as he stands next to Bianchi with the cocoon Leon in his hands, turning him around and around and around.

Hide really wants to ask how and why Hibari is here.

"Don't crowd," the prefect says before he starts making his way up, and a cold feeling nests itself in Hide's heart. If Hibari is not just throwing them out, then this is a really bad situation. Either Hibari Kyoya is too injured to deny support, or whatever is up there will be worse than they are expecting.

With one last look back at Takeshi, Hide follows after his general.

* * *

**Sun interlude**

**sovereign**

It used to be a church.

Long, _long_ ago, when the Founders settled in Namimori, they had brought in westernization and Christianity with them. It was a passing fashion, for the people of Kokuyo, but as Namimori was founded by Italian people it adopted some things from them, as forgotten as they are nowadays. It cannot be helped, though: Namimori sticks to tradition, and the island originally belonged to Kokuyo. While western manners and style became commonplace in time, parallel to Japan's own integration back into the world, other things were simply ignored by most, forgotten by others, until they disappeared leaving behind broken remains of what they could have grown to be.

Christianity had been one of those.

Nami Island had a local cult that could be traced back to the very first settlers of the island. Even before Namimori, way before Kokuyo, there had been People living in the land; in the odd and everlasting tunnels that crossed the land, in the deep trenches of stone walls in the plains, up in the forest hidden in groves. These People had believed in Something that they understood very well, then this Something was passed on to the settlers of Kokuyo who didn't understand much at all, then to the Founders of Namimori who became so tied to this Something they could no longer be thought as separate beings.

This Something was, to some, Flames. Fire. To others, and most usually to Namimori, it was the Harmony of the Sky and the Attraction of the Earth. The Life of the World, that which gave the world its colors as they were, and so much more. Untaintable clear white chasing the night away.

Hibari Masato never understood much of the cult of the Gods, but he does understand how it works. Many older people of Namimori understand how it works, though not much of its origins or what it entails. Ietsuna-sama was another case, but he studied folklore as a career and Masato never understood what was so fun about that.

Something, something Flames. Something, something cult, six great pillars and one lighthouse in the dark, something about roots and a giant tree. Something, something mirrors and dragons.

The place where he currently is _used_ to be a church. Now, not so much. It had gone from a church, to an orphanage, to a school, to the community centre of Namimori, and so much more. Nowadays, it is simply a gathering place for old people who enjoy the skylights' designs and the long benches, a place for gossip and knitting clubs, old card games from who knows what era and endless talks of the golden ages.

It is here where Masato finds Sasagawa Youta, his predecessor in _a_ role he takes for this ungrateful island. The ancient old man and his wife don't look a day past sixty, even when Masato knows they are older than Ietsuna-sama who is _probably_ older than sixty (he doesn't bother much with ages, he speaks daily with an ageless person). He is unusually fit, for an old man, covered in wrinkles, natural white hair a bird's nest on his head. He looks stressed about the wooden puzzle in his hands, much to his wife's amusement, and looks ready to throw the wood block to an already laughing Mochida Masayoshi.

"Youta-sama," he calls, because it would not do to be rude to one's elders, and makes his way past the many long benches (some broken, some not; he needs to fix this place) as quick as he can. He is glad Satoshi is questioning the _thing_ that attacked the Sawada, since it means there is no one to stop him from doing what he has to do. "I apologize for being late, I had-"

"Save it, Your Majesty." The old man waves a hand, smiling widely. "You should not humble yourself in our presence." He laughs, while his wife (Tsuru, right) rummages through her bag muttering something possibly rude under her breath. "I am surprised to made it so early."

Well, he is not wrong (he's so tired). "I woke up _at least_ an hour ago, Youta-sama."

"Whatever will you do when His Highness moves out?" The rude, rude old man shakes his head in disappointment. He snatches a huge key from his wife's hand, ignoring her when she starts cursing aloud, and throws it at Masato's head because he has no manners. "Here. Don't take too long, I have a grandson to visit."

"I will return it before the day is over." By some miracle, he manages to catch the key before it hits him. It is ancient, metal and almost a holy relic, is it too much to ask for a little consideration?

While he would like to stay and spend some time with his elders (no he wouldn't), he is on a hurry. Finding Kyoya and the other children is of utmost importance, considering what lingers right at their coasts. With a hasty bow and a few almost silent words, he makes his way to where would have been the altar, had this building still been a church.

It _used_ to be a church. Nowadays, it is mainly a gathering place to the public, but there are certain parties that would still use it as sacred grounds due to its importance. A few years back, a cult that revered the Sun had tried to take over the building at both dawn and dusk, and they still showed up at specific hours to greet morning and night. Luckily for the town, no member of this ridiculous cult had ever come across the staircase hidden under the old fashioned tapestry in the wall behind the altar.

That probably has to do with the fact it needs the key to be found. Fortunately for him, he has the key that opens the door to the staircase, a lock embedded in a sun with a six points and a small yellow stone right under it; and also, the needed skills to light the way down and into the ancient, stone-walled structure under the building. Equally fortunately is that he finds no Judge or Judge minions on his way, or that the secondary tunnels leading off into the island are as dark as they should always be.

He reaches the shrine chamber in record time.

It is a really small square room, compared to the main temple near Kokuyo. Two tall mirrors embedded in the stone walls to the sides, framed by the thick roots of trees above; six small glass spheres glowing with yellow flames light, two for each mirror and at each side of the entrance, the same as the spheres that lead the way through the tunnels. A crude carving of a masked person looks over the room from the wall opposite to the entrance, but Masato can't see that one; after all, the Sun Flame itself floats in the middle of the chamber, spinning slowly above its pedestal.

Now this, is something Masato prefers not to think too much about; he has been outside Namimori, he has seen what normal is supposed to be like to other people. That doesn't mean he will deny it exists, though.

The single real bead in his bracelet looks both brighter and duller when he raises his arm to the Flame (he is so _tired_ ). Ignoring the quiet, Satoshi-like voice in his mind that tells him to _not do what he is doing_ , he reaches with both hands for the spinning Flame, closes his eyes and

_listens._

* * *

**(redacted) interlude**

**infiltrate**

The first attempt at breaking past the fog is useless.

Two of them had gone in, in small boats borrowed from their contact's ship. Ten minutes later, the small boat had come back empty; about half an hour after that, well into their second attempt, the Vindice had appeared in the ship, dazed, missing their pacifier while the crew member who had gone with them was declared missing. When asked what had happened, the Vindice could not answer, as they could not remember: they were missing a whole hour of memories and hardly even remembered what they were doing here.

The second attempt is much the same. They had tried with the ship, thinking maybe a crew of people would be allowed through, but the propulsion system had failed and gone down. The radars had gone haywire, the fuel tanks appeared empty to the sight of the monitors and even the two people who had gone to check on them.

Their contact had been broadcasting for a while now, and a reply _had_ come back a couple of days ago. There _is_ something in the fog, even if they can't get to it and it doesn't show in any maps. Whatever it is, it is definitely not normal: not even Lord Bermuda could get in (they had contacted him already) and it was getting on their nerves.

"Sir," one of the Vindice calls to the operation lead, voice muted as always by the bandages around them. They have tried to not show their unease to the ship's crew or their contact, as that could only bring them trouble. "A Flame network has lit up inside the area."

"What is it."

"It feels like Sun, and it is growing."

"Not the target then. Accomplices."

"Most probably. But, sir." The Vindice looks nervous. It is out of character enough for the crew of the ship to notice and give them a wide bert. "It feels like the commander."

They share a look with each other, somehow. Maybe, contacting Lord Bermuda again would be a good idea.

* * *

**028**

**encroaching mist**

To say the battle against Kaiji is going well would be a lie.

Nagi knows strength, knows it like she knows her name is Shiraishi Nagi. She has seen it multiple times, when aiding her parents in their odd jobs around town, when following her town siblings around and watching them at war, when training with Kusakabe-sensei in the odd days he comes around Kokuyo. She has experienced strength and pain and loss, and knows them very well. They are close friends, to her, just like the Judge is the source of all her troubles and just like Ro is always close in her shadow.

She knows strength and pain and loss. She is not a fighter, yet she knows the strength at her relatives' hands, the pain of defeat at her teacher's whims, the loss of her will at the Judge's words. She is not a fighter, yet she has experienced the battlefield of Namimori countless times in her short life.

Their life is a constant battlefield, against all those who dare break in, against those who don't follow the rules, against those whose eyes are dull with the undead grace of the elders. Namimori is a constant battlefield of the mind, a game board or a stage of strings and fake words.

Never had she ever had to fight against another like her, though.

She can feel Kaiji's, Mukuro's thoughts brushing against her own, can hear a quiet whisper in the back of her mind telling her to give up. She can see many shades in Mukuro's eyes pushing him to greater heights, can see the misty haze in his beliefs that call and plead for her. She can feel the pull of Mukuro's soul on her heart, a mirror of her own yet so very different, twisted past recognizance.

She can hear Ro telling her to _flee_. The battle is lost and there is no shame in it, no shame in leaving the building and letting others finish the job.

Ro telling her she is too _weak_ to fight even against a ten years old child.

She evades another sweep of Tsunayoshi's screaming blade, blocks an attack with the bill in her hands and picks up reality to wrap around her weapon. In a second her staff goes back to being bladeless, as it is meant to be, and she lets the weight at one end slam against the floor near Ro's tail. The scythe comes at her arm once more, glowing with the colors of dusk in summer, but then Ro is at her side crushing the fake weapon with his fangs.

It breaks with a sharp, unreal sound that makes her cringe in discomfort. Mukuro's serpents and trident dissolve back into the mist, Tsunayoshi's wrist becomes an scarred mess, and Nagi's own eye melts into her skull. The rough, ugly truth of the the world, now bare for all to see, spreads across the cracks on the floor and the mold in the wall, and there is suddenly sunshine coming in from the ceiling.

Nagi steps back from Mukuro and into the warmth of Ro's shadow, covering her missing eye with her free hand. She watches warily at her twin, hiding his own eyes with a frown in his face, and then at Tsunayoshi digging his nails into his wrist with frantic muttering.

"...the mutt." Mukuro looks at them with a single narrowed red eye. His hand is wrapped in thin, pale Mist which dissolves the moment it tries to manifest completely. "You are also an illusionist, why would-"

"A chance," Nagi replies, clutching at Ro's fur with the little strength she has left. Her side is in pain from a fake-trident stab wound, her arm is littered in fake-snake bites, and she is in no state (either mental or physical) to continue this fight.

With the exception of Ro, all of them are in no optimal condition right now. Both Mukuro and Nagi are true illusionists, using tricks for chances in the battlefield, and Mukuro was even using an almost real, yet fake weapon for himself and Tsunayoshi. Nagi is sure there is a real trident somewhere in the room, but there is no scythe, and there are also no snakes. Nagi can't see from her missing eye, not even the vague shadows that her illusion eye shows her, yet neither Mukuro or Tsunayoshi seem to be in any state to be up and around.

Tsunayoshi is _small_ , but this she already knew. It is her twin brother's state that worries her: he looks starved, sleep deprived and thoroughly fatigued. Even if neither Ro or Nagi herself managed to get a direct hit on him, he still looks like he was beaten to death and brought back just barely.

Had this been another situation, she would do something about it. It is not, though: Mukuro is the enemy, an intruder in her land, and she needs him to leave. Yet once again, she is in no condition for it.

She wishes Hidetada's party the best in her mind, grabs on to Ro, and they manage to make their retreat look like it is not simply fleeing for their lives.

They make it as far as the main staircase and into a tiny storage room before she collapses, Ro wrapping himself around her like a shadowy blanket. The fake-venom in her blood is stronger and more real than she thought it could be, considering it came from illusion snakes which were destroyed by Ro's whatever-it-is-he-does.

"I _hate_ snakes," she whispers. Then the world goes black.

* * *

**extra**

* * *

 

**A Prologue to the End**

_Namimori, ?, Year ?_

A dust-covered sphere lays atop a stone. Small, glassy orange, small wisps of white and black and reddish-brown wrapped around its core.

Had it not been covered in dust from years of neglect, had it not been lying atop a crumbling stone that had clearly been there too long, had it not been where it currently is, it might have passed for something precious. Simple, delicate, the colors weaving with each other in proof of masterful skill by its maker; simple, delicate, smooth surface polished until it had the shape of a perfect sphere. Simple, yet grand, a magnificent work of art as big as a young child.

Simple, _perfect_ as all man-made creations aim to be, yet too perfect to be anything but man-made. Like the Moon in its constant orbit around Earth, or like the human body working to keep itself alive. Like something pulled from nature in its creation, made as vital to the world as water and earth, yet mysterious like atoms. As if it was one last puzzle for Humanity to solve before they could _be_.

Like the final masterpiece of one crafter before his death. Unmatched, unreplicable.

The dais it rests on, the chamber it rests inside, could have been beautiful once, but has now been overtaken by nature. Blood red roots pierce through the ceiling, through the walls and mirrors, reaching into the ground and around the crumbling stone. Shattered glass and sharp metal and debris litter the floor, the barely-visible carvings and reliefs covered in muddy water and rotting leaves and wood.

The sphere is untouched. Through the years, no damage has come to it: not the water, not the roots, not the debris.

Six pillars around the room are the only thing keeping the ceiling from collapsing atop the sphere, though even then the sphere may come undamaged. Each at equal distance from their ward and from each other, from each of the had-been mirrors, in each corner joining carved walls. Each decorated with what could have been detail, but is now dull rock and faded stories. Each with their own niche, not too small, not too big, with their own colorful glassy sphere inside them.

Six pillars. Six mirrors. Six walls. Six spheres. The room, shaped like an hexagon, would probably have everything in sets of six, had nature and time not destroyed most of what made its decoration.

They are smaller than the center one, but no less grand. No less perfect. No less neglected. Wisps of black and white and orange around their core, slowly moving and joining with each other.

Together, all seven make up the colors of the rainbow.

All seven together are bigger than life itself. They could remain as they are for as long as they have so far, and into the future. Unmoved, unperturbed, their colorful wisps balancing each other in their eternal dance around each other.

But then, the world recoils.

Time itself shudders as something that should be celebrated makes it bend, makes it go back on itself and fix a single moment, flowing on from there at a more sedated pace. Space howls as beings as different as Light and the Ocean and the Sky mesh together to come out as something not quite sustainable, broken in the middle, unable to help itself. Nature shatters somewhere deep, deep inside, dripping blood and pain into the land and the people, slowly drowning it in its suffering.

A single white strand in the orange sphere is swallowed by black. It remains black, and black and _black_ until no white remains, and it starts to attack the orange before reddish-brown can hold it back.

Yet the damage is already done.

The sphere cracks. A small crack, easily missed, but still a crack.

Black oozes from the sphere, a miasma as heavy as iron that falls to the water, crawls to a root and clings, reaching higher and higher, burnt black and rot making the root curl up on itself. It breaks off, falling to the floor and crumbling to ash, and the rot spreads more and more and more.

Elsewhere, elsewhen, in other worlds that could have been, people rejoice.

They rejoice, unknowing that a simple mistake, a single thing they overlooked, might just be the start of their own doom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I'm not dead. Last year was a little painful for me and took my motivation to write away, so I have only worked in _really_ small projects (which still became huge, ugh) or just. Not done anything at all. I haven't forgotten this fic, and I do want to end it, but the truth is it's a mess.
> 
> I reread it a few times. This year was basically me reading through it, taking scenes, adding some more, making things flow hopefully smoother than now. The thing is, I like writing confusing things, and my writing style is choppy most of the time, so _fixing_ this was really, really hard. I'm still not done, and I don't know when will I be, but I wanted to post _something_. Because I do love this fandom, and this fic, even if it's a disaster.
> 
> So, a question. Should I wait until I'm done rewriting, post it all at once, and then continue?
> 
> Now, one of the reasons why last year sucked was because, well, I had to re-prepare for university entrance exams. That _was terrible_ , because I graduated high school really long ago and I don't remember much. But, I did it, and I'm now back to studying and also back to living somewhere not stressing for me. However, I'm going to study something that will probably require way more attention from me than before, since I have to somehow cram three new languages in my head, so... Yeah. I can't promise anything.
> 
> I will finish this, though. Even if it takes me ten more years.
> 
> Please do leave a comment, so I remember it exists. Or drop by my Twitter ReunLuet and bother me about Reborn headcanons, I don't mind.
> 
> The last bit is part of the New Prologue!
> 
>  **Some Worldbuilding** : One thing I noticed was that everything is messy and there are things that don't show properly. If you ask things I can reply, I will! For now, though:
> 
>  _OCs_ : Hibari Masato and his cohort are in this fic because a) they are the parents b) they are the Elder generation of Namimori guardians and c) they are a Flame septet. Basically, they are the ones that keep Namimori from imploding, but also they will act as Plot Devices to move some children in life.
> 
>  _Namimori_ : Namimori is older than Japan. They don't follow Japanese laws, and are more of a neutral area than anything else. Most people are part of the cult of Flames, even if they don't know it, because Namimori is one of the last places in Earth where Flames are not Mafia related. Civilians call Flames by different names, and while everyone has them, not everyone can use them.
> 
>  _Double Flames_ : Unlike in canon, double Flames are the norm. Having one is dangerous, having more than two is rare. Usually people have one 'external' Flame and one 'internal', which balance each other so a body functions normally; normally, one is Sky and the other Earth at equal strengths, which makes them completely nullify each other making it so a person doesn't have usable flames (civilians). The Asari are an example of what happens when people have just one flame (they die or go crazy).
> 
>  _Flame of Tundra_ : The final of the Flames of Earth, it has the property of numb. The manga made it so it 'causes severe lacerations in a body', but it wasn't explained at all, so. Unlike Rain flames, Tundra kills of all feeling of the affected area. Like ice. Wow.
> 
>  _Arcobaleno Tsuna_ : Tsuna's Arcobaleno pacifier is sort of a placeholder. It is there as a promise of Tsuna becoming an Arcobaleno, not as proof he is one as Aria is still alive. It makes him grow Slower than most children his age.
> 
>  _Tsuna vs Hide_ : The protagonist are Hide and the Vongola. Tsunayoshi is Millefiore. It doesn't seem much right now, but he is the main Antagonist, that I can promise you.
> 
>  _Horror_ : This fic is not so much horror as it is uncanny. Namimori is a really confusing place.

**Author's Note:**

> So I have been planning this for a while now. Basically, i just took all the things I like (that is, corrupted protagonists, alternate universes of the everything-is-the-same-but-A-takes-B's-place kind, fucking up the timelines) and wrote up the most self-indulgent thing I have ever written in my life. Sky Arcobaleno Tsuna allying himself with Byakuran in the future to take down the Vongola Decimo sounds like a good idea to me; throw in Daemon Spade who is completely crazy and you get... ?? Also mf conspiracies and awkward illegal shit, yay!
> 
> Everyone is going to die and it will be beautiful. Suffer, characters, suffer.


End file.
